I'll Be There: expanded
by Jaenelle Angelline
Summary: Logan and Jubilee's relationship isn't working out, but Logan gets upset when she starts dating someone else. FINISHED. Read, review please! Thanks!
1. Default Chapter

Chapter 1: Looking For Love

**Author's Note**: This is going to be the _much_ longer version of a short, 'request only' story I wrote some months back. Some of my regular readers may have gotten it; some of you may not have. If you'd like to read it, please email me. If you have read it, thanks for the feedback; your interest was what encouraged me to write this long version. Enjoy! And please review if you liked it, and even if you don't! I love reviews! --Jaenelle

                Logan paused outside his bedroom door. _Sniff_.

                His lips curling into a smile, he pushed open the door and looked in. The room was dark, but he didn't need light to see, given his enhanced senses. And the moonlight from the full spring moon flooding in at the window illuminated the intruder in his room nicely, showing who it was even if his nose had picked up her unique scent before he even walked in.

Jubilee had draped herself across his bed, in an open, seductive pose. She was wearing a smooth, sheer garment made of some soft stuff that covered every inch of her body and yet left nothing to the imagination. He groaned as he saw those curves, and the pale skin under the garment. If he could concentrate on those sexy woman's curves, maybe he could avoid looking up into that face, and be able to give her what they both wanted that night.

                "Hey, Logan." The voice was slow, sensual, with a deep, throbbing cat-like purr to it, but the sound of it brought his eyes up to her face, and there he went again. He groaned as he sat down heavily on the end of the bed. "Jubes…"

                She bit her lip. "I did it again, didn't I."

                He sighed. "I tried, Jubes. I was all set…and then ya talked, an' I just couldn't…I keep rememberin' the voice ya had as a little girl, an' I keep thinking o' ya as a little girl, and I can't sleep with you while I'm thinkin' that. I'm sorry."

                Jubilee sighed as she sat up and flicked on the switch on the bedside lamp, then moved across the bed to sit behind him. "I guess I'm trying to push it too," she said as her hands started massaging the tense muscles at the nape of his neck. "I love you, Logan, I really do. And I know you do too. But I guess it's just going to take a little time for you to come to grips with the fact that I'm not a little girl anymore. Hell," and she laughed a little, and Logan very nearly told her to watch her language, like he'd told her numbers of times when she was thirteen, then had to bite his tongue. _She's twenty-three now, you idiot!_ He shouted at himself. _She can say anything she damn well likes_!

                "—it's going to take _everyone_ a while to figure out that I'm not a little girl anymore." Her tone hardened. "I haven't been a little girl since Bastion. But nobody seems to recognize that, except Remy. With everybody else, it's 'Jubilee, will you do this' or 'Jubilee, will you take this' or 'Jubilee, can you do this, dear'?" She made a face, and her fingers dug a little harder than necessary into the muscles at the top of his shoulders.  He winced. Jubilee must be pissed.

                "Hey," he said, turning and capturing her chin in his hand. "I know yer not a little girl anymore. But ol' habits die hard, even with us. An some o' us don't wanna think about yer becomin' a woman. Chuck, fer one. Scotty boy, for another. An' even Jean. Yer a reminder that we ain't getting' any younger, an' for most o' them, that's somethin' they don't wanna face." He kissed her, as quick, gentle peck on the cheek, and tousled her hair. "Now go on back ta yer room an' get some sleep. Don't want Scotters draggin' ya outta bed fer trainin' tomorrow, do ya?"

                Jubilee giggled, and if he hadn't lost it before, he'd definitely lost it now. She still had the same, mischievous little-girl giggle he'd come to love over the years. "I dunno," she said. "Might be fun. I want to see what you're going to do. Hey, he's probably wondering too. After all, you did threaten him yesterday with bodily harm if he walked in on me and made me scream like that again."

                "You scared me," Logan grumped. "I heard ya yell, I thought ya were in trouble, an' I went ta find Scott standin' there with his face the same color as his glasses an' you naked as the day ya were born. Stop sleepin' naked, then Scott won't catch ya unprepared with a glass o' ice water again. And I won't have ta hurt him."

                Jubilee giggled again. "I'm going," she said. "Sleep well." And she got out of bed, walked across the room and opened the door.

                'Hey!" Logan yelped, startled. She paused, and Logan tossed his robe at her. "Don't walk out in the hall wearin' nothin' but that, darlin," he drawled. "Want everybody ta see ya?"

                She made a face. "Maybe it'll drive my point home," she said, "that I'm not a kid anymore." She noticed, however, that she did put on the robe over her negligee. "Sweet dreams, Logan." She stepped out and closed the door.

                Logan fell backwards on his bed. "What the hell's wrong with ya?" he growled at himself. "Ya got the most beautiful woman in the world throwin' herself at ya, an' ya can't get yerself ta touch her because of what ya remember she used ta look like. Oh, damn." And he rolled off the bed, shrugged off his clothes, and lay back down, pulling the covers over himself and trying to ignore the bump in the covers halfway down the bed.

*                                                              *                                                              *

                Jubilee dropped the amused mask she had worn as soon as the door closed behind her. Her blue eyes filled with tears. "Damn," she whispered, feeling the hollow ache inside her expand at the thought of going to bed alone, without him, again. They had tried four times over the last two months; she had even taken to teasing him and leaving naked photos of herself in odd places around his room where he would find them; most of them taped to the pages of the well-worn magazine he thought he'd hidden so cleverly in the bottom of his travel bag. None of it had worked. They had been unable to get past the touching stage. 

                Angry and upset was not the way she wanted to fall asleep. After standing in the dark hallway for a while, thinking, she headed downstairs toward the kitchen. It was two in the morning, everyone was pretty much asleep, and she could help herself to one of the guys' beers without having to feel Jean or Ororo looking at her disapprovingly.

                They had, fortunately, restocked the fridge with beer and alcoholic drinks the day before, and it was still reasonably full. She looked through it, making a face at all the choices, until she saw a bottle of Smirnoff, away back in the corner. That should be strong enough to fill, or at least make her forget, the hollow ache down inside her that longed for Logan's touch.

She was plunked down at the kitchen table, leaning back in the chair with her feet resting on the table in a position that would have shocked Jean if she'd seen it, when the back door slammed. Remy, clearly somewhat the worse for wear, came slouching in. "Hey, _p'tite_," he grinned roguishly at her. "What you doin' still up?"

                "Havin' a beer." She eyed him speculatively. "You look like you've had a few."

                "Eh," Remy said, walking over to the table in a more or less straight line. Then he paused. "I guess Logan still havin' trouble, _non_?" he indicated her attire. Jubilee looked down at herself. Logan's robe had fallen open, leaving much of her front 'covered' only by the transparent negligee. 

"Yeah," she growled, taking another sip. "Still havin' problems. Can't see the forest for the damn trees."

Remy slid around the back of her chair, placing his hands lightly on her shoulders. "Remy havin' no such problems," he said silkily. "I t'ink you look better now dan you did b'fore."

Jubilee blinked at the bottle in her hand. How much alcohol was in this? Because she could have sworn she'd just heard Remy, of all people, coming on to her. Maybe she was just imagining things. "Well, least someone does," she said after a moment.

"Oh, dat Remy is," he said tranquilly, his hands applying more pressure to her shoulders. "I don' know what Logan's problem is. Don' know what everybody's problem is. You grown into a beautiful woman." His hands pushed under the robe's neckline and started to massage the muscles at the junction of her shoulder and neck. "Fact," he said as the warmth of his hands penetrated through the thin fabric and started to heat her skin, "Remy could just kiss you right now." And deed followed word, and Jubilee's eyes fluttered closed as his lips pressed against the sensitive skin of her neck.

"What you goin' to do 'bout dat?" he asked with a wicked smile.

"Mmm…I could hit you for comin' on to me.." her words were starting to slur, "Or I could kiss you back. Since I don't really feel like bruisin' my knuckles, I guess I'll take door number two." She turned and kissed him.

Remy grinned as he pulled her up out of her chair. "Don' need to hit Remy, chere," he said, his voice husky with desire. "Logan gonna do dat tomorrow morning anyway."

Jubilee broke the kiss to frown at him. "Why would Logan do that?" Her mind fuzzily tried to wrap around the idea. After a moment, she gave up. "You're a big boy. Logan won't hurt you."

Remy grinned wolfishly. "Oui, he'll hurt me…but at leas' it'll be worth it." His hands came up under the robe and he caressed the smooth, warm skin of her back. "Come on. Let's go up to the bedroom."

"Yours or mine?" she asked hazily.

Remy giggled. "Yours, p'tite. Don't t'ink you goin' to remain vertical long 'nough to make it to mine." He ran an arm across her back and hauled her close to him as they headed out of the kitchen and ascended the stairs. They seemed terrifyingly steep, and her feet for some reason didn't want to cooperate, but Remy was there beside her, helping her up, and they got to the second floor without incident. 

Remy's room was further along the second floor's right wing than hers was, so when he got them to her room he stopped and nudged the door open. He was thankful that the piles of clothes and the perpetual mess had gotten left behind when she grew up; with her in this state, and himself not much better, he wouldn't have been able to navigate the piles. Getting across the room was tricky enough; her feet wanted to go in the opposite direction. He grinned. "Guess ya never tried vodka," he said, dropping her finally on the bed. She scrambled backward and made room for him as he paused by the bed, fumbling with his clothes, and when he was fully nude he slid in between the cool sheets with her. She shrugged out of Logan's robe, followed by the thin negligee, and climbed in beside him. Her hands started caressing, her lips fluttering and teasing.

Then she stopped.

Remy opened one eye. "_P'tite_?" There was no answer. "_P'tite_, you okay?"

A soft snore answered him. He lay back against the pillow and laughed gently, then pushed her sleeping body off him. The bed wasn't wide enough to put a respectable amount of distance between them, so he pulled her close to him instead, snuggled her legs between his long ones so she wouldn't accidentally kick something in her sleep, and closed his eyes.

He knew nothing more until a torrent of cold water struck him full in the face the next morning.


	2. Rude Awakenings

Chapter 2:

                Scott sighed as he placed his hand on the handle of Jubilee's doorknob and turned it, then poked his head in the door. And blinked. There were _two_ figures sleeping in Jubilee's narrow bed. He spotted a filmy white negligee on the floor, next to what was undoubtedly Logan's robe; and heat rushed to his face as he considered the possible implication. He didn't like the conclusion he reached. Didn't like it at all.

                He retraced his steps to the kitchen, swiftly grabbed two large glasses, and filled them with the extra-cold water from the dispenser in the front of the refrigerator. Carrying them carefully as he made his way back upstairs (Jean would throw a glass of icy water on _him_ if he spilled icy water on the plush carpeting. _And_ she'd strip him down for it too!) he made it back to Jubilee's door without spilling a drop and pushed the door open with a toe. 

                As he neared the bed he noticed something odd. There was another pile of clothing and what looked like a pair of men's boots on the other side of Jubilee's bed. And those boots looked too big to be Logan's. Scott frowned, and shrugged. It didn't matter. He got up near the head of the bed, took one brief look at the two heads nestled together on the pillow, then tipped both glasses.

                Remy went from deep sleep to instant wakefulness as the icy water struck him full in the face. He flung the covers back, roaring in outrage, as Jubilee, beside him, shrieked and scrambled out of her side of the bed. By the time Remy had gotten his wet bangs cleared out of his eyes Jubilee was screaming at Scott at full volume.

                "What the hell are you doing in my room!?" she screamed at Scott. "Get the hell out! How dare you!?"

                Scott just stared, round-eyed, and didn't say a word. Remy took in the goings-on at a glance, grinned insouciantly, and leaned back against the dresser, refusing to pick his clothes up from the floor to cover himself. Scott was carefully trying to avoid looking at Remy's nude body; he was, similarly, looking around the room to find something, anything, to look at besides the naked, angrily-spitting Jubilee. Who, Remy noticed, hadn't made a move toward her clothes either.

                "I never thought you'd stoop so low!" Jubilee ranted. "Not a single one of us _ever_ went sneaking into _your_ room to drag you out of bed for a freakin' training session! Not that we'd want to see your little a naked either!"

                "Jubilee!" Scott finally found his voice. "Watch your language! And by the way, what is Remy doing in your room? Naked?" He glared at Remy, still carefully not looking down.

                Remy remembered Jubilee saying something last night about no one realizing she wasn't a little girl anymore. Scott, apparently, had the same problem that Logan had. The younger Jubilee would have been blushing and furiously embarrassed by now; the woman Jubilee had become suffered from no such feelings. This Jubilee faced Scott down, kept him off balance by remaining nude, and refused to back down to him. Remy admired her spunk…just as he also admired her posterior.

                And here she went again. She spat out, "And what gives you the right to ask who is in my bed, or why? That's my own friggin' business, not yours! So get out!"

                Logan grumbled as the sound of shouting echoed down the corridor. He rubbed his eyes, then identified the source of the shouting. Jubilee.

                He reached across the nightstand and grabbed his boxers, and then after a moment he grabbed a t-shirt from his drawer and pulled that on before he left his room. He took his time working his way through the crowd that was gathering in front of Jubilee's open door on both sides; from the sound of it, the kid was well worked up and showing no signs of letting up. He frowned. Why _was_ she so worked up? What did Scott do, walk in on her naked? Dump two glasses on her head? If Scott had dared to do that, he was going to have to have a little 'discussion' with Scott about how to treat Logan's little girl…

                He froze. His nose had brought to his attention the smell of _two_ men in Jubilee's room. Scott and Gumbo. Had Scott gotten Remy to drag Jubes out of bed? He was going to have a talk with Gumbo too…

                The he reached the door to Jubilee's room, and saw who, and what, was going on inside, and the focus of his anger shifted. He barely noticed Scott. All he could see was Remy leaning up against Jubilee's dresser, _nude_, and Jubilee, standing in front of her bed, in a similar state of undress. He took a deep breath and bellowed, loud enough to drown her out, "_What the friggin' hell is Gumbo doing in your friggin room_, _NAKED?!_"

Jubilee stopped short, switched her attention from Scott to Logan. "Why the hell shouldn't he be in my room? I'm old enough to decide who I sleep with, thank you very much for _not_ noticing I'm twenty-three now! You don't want me, so why the hell shouldn't I go find someone who does?" And she flung out a string of epithets in back-alley language that made Logan's eyes pop. He whirled, pointed to Scott, and jerked his thumb back toward the door. "You! Out!" His arm swiveled and pointed to Remy. "You. Out!"

                Remy looked at Logan's face, decided that a retreat would definitely be the most prudent course of action right now, and grabbed his clothes from the floor on the other side of the bed. He pulled on his boxers and made a hasty exit, closing Jubilee's room door softly behind him. He looked at Scott, Scott looked at him, and right on cue the sound of arguing voices began again from the other side of the door. Scott said in a slightly subdued voice, "Danger Room training session in ten minutes. With or without them." And he stalked off down the hall. Bobby let out a suspicious snicker as Scott passed, and Remy saw Kitty slip a dollar bill into Bobby's hand. Scott saw it too. His spine stiffened, but he swept on past them, pretending he hadn't seen it. Remy grinned as he stopped in front of Bobby. "For or 'gainst?"

                Bobby grinned and handed him three one-dollar bills. "Three said Logan wasn't gonna touch either of you. Two was for Logan to tear into Scott first; two said Scott was going to chase both of you out before he yelled at her, and one said Jubes was going to get it from Logan."

                Remy narrowed his eyes. "Dere be eleven people in de mansion, Bobby."

                The room door opened, and Jubilee shoved Logan out. He was almost purple with anger. He gave all of them a last glare before stomping off to his room, saving a particularly angry look for Remy, but he said nothing to the Cajun.

                Bobby waited till Logan was apparently out of earshot and his bedroom door slammed before he said with a wicked smile, "And three said Jubes was going to get into it with Logan about the way he treats her, and then she was gonna throw him out of her room. Looks like she gets three." He turned to regard the closed door. "Although, I don't suppose now would be a very good time to give her the money."

                "Ah, _non_. Definitely not, unless you want to walk away wit' somet'ing you consider precious missin'." Remy grinned wolfishly. "Here. I give it to de p'tite later." Bobby handed over the money as Jean's mindvoice filled their heads, calling for them all to report to the Danger Room.

                Logan ignored the call, just as he'd ignored the whispered conversation between Bobby and Remy in the hall. He sat on his bed, running his fingers through his hair. Jubilee had told him he was an ass, and that the only reason he was upset about finding Remy in her bed was because he was jealous.

                "Am not," he snarled under his breath, yanking on his pants and socks. "Gumbo ain't right for her, is all." But his ears still burned from what shed told him in response to that line of reasoning.

                "And who are you to tell me who is right for me and who isn't?" she'd hissed, her blue eyes snapping sparks at him. "I am not a little girl, Logan, and the sooner you get that into your damned thick skull the better! Go think about that for a while!" And he'd blinked, and found himself standing on the other side of a closed and locked door.

                What really got to him was the fact that Jubilee had treated him the same as she'd treated Scott, now that he thought about it. And that miffed him. _He_ was the one she'd always run to when she had a disagreement with someone; he'd sorted out her problems and soothed her ruffled temper. This was the first time she'd yelled at him with the same impunity she yelled at everyone else. To her mind, at least, they were equals. And that was what he had a problem with.

                "Don't care what the kid says, the next time she hollers at me I'm gonna whack her ass till it gets hot," he snarled, standing up and shoving his feet into his shoes. "I spanked her once when she was a snot-nosed brat, I'll damn well do it again."

                Now why was it that the thought of Jubilee actually draped over his knee made his face flush…?

                Jubilee pulled on her clothes, still simmering inside. How _dare_ Scott just…dump water…on her and Remy's head like that? He wouldn't dream of doing that to Rogue, or Ororo, or Betsy, or Bobby…okay, maybe he would do that to Bobby, but that was _Bobby_, for gosh sakes. And if it had been _Remy_, late for training, still asleep in his own bed, Scott wouldn't have dumped water on his head. 

                And Logan. Yes, she was mad at Logan. How _dare_ he just…assume? He hadn't even given her a chance to tell him nothing had happened. She'd quietly keep to herself the fact that if she'd drunk just a little less vodka something would have happened the night before, with Remy, and she wouldn't have regretted it at all. Not one single bit. When she was away at college she'd had no qualms about filling her spare time with a variety of male company, and yes, she'd slept with a couple of them. She'd carefully edited that out of the letters she sent Logan, but she still got the impression that he knew what she was up to. Especially when she'd found a box of condoms in the bottom of her suitcase after coming back from a visit at the mansion.

                Hmm. He'd known about the boys at college, and never said a word. Maybe he'd object less if she went out with someone closer to her own age? That was something to think about, because, as much as she liked the Cajun, she couldn't see herself settling down with him. Heck, she couldn't see him settling down with anyone. Remy loved women. He'd had more women in his bed than she had shoes. But to tie himself down to one? She couldn't see it. He might be good for a one-night-stand, or a bed buddy, but not for a serious, long-term relationship. Her and Remy, getting married? No. Definitely not. "Euugh," she said aloud, wrinkling her nose.

                A quick look at the clock beside her bed showed her it was almost ten-thirty in the morning. Her head ached, from the vodka the night before, and the rude awakening and the argument. She got dressed, in regular clothes (no need to go to training now; she was already late). Besides, even if Scott wanted to drag her down there, he would probably think long and hard about it. Given the reception he'd gotten, he probably wouldn't do it again anytime soon.

                She stopped quickly in the bathroom to brush her teeth, brush her hair, and fix her makeup, then took a bottle of aspirin from the cabinet and helped herself to two of them for her headache. A stop in the kitchen produced a bowl of cereal and a glass of orange juice, which she wolfed down. She wasn't sure how long the others would be; maybe Scott would cut it off short because he was out of sorts this morning.

                The cereal vanished, and she went up to her room to get her purse and keys, then she bounced out the door. She was really out of sorts this morning due to the lousy start; she hated feeling down, so she'd go pick herself up out of her mood with a little shopping. That always helped.


	3. New Acquaintance

Chapter 3: New Acquaintance

This was not a normal day, Jubilee grumbled to herself as she stomped out of yet another clothing shop. Nothing was going right. She'd only found one thing she really liked so far, and the store hadn't had it in her size. She growled as she walked back out into the mall's thoroughfare.

She spent a little while just walking, looking around, and watching the people who were walking by. She was trying to decide what she wanted to do; leave here and go window-shopping somewhere else, or try to find something to do here…when she saw an ad in a nearby shop window for a new CD from her new favorite band, Evanescence. Smiling to herself, she walked into the music store.

She read the song titles from the back of the CD, searching for the one she'd been hearing on the radio but hadn't purchased yet, but not knowing the name of the song made it difficult to identify the one she wanted from the list of others. Finally she wandered to the 'preview' station, squeezed her way around a tall blond boy, picked up a set of headphones and punched the button with the band's name on it. The preview station immediately started playing short one-minute clips from the new CD, and, to her delight, she heard the song she was trying to find over the headphones.

She took the headphones off, turned to leave the preview station and head back for the display, and ran directly into the tall blond guy she'd had to duck around to get to the preview station. She flushed pink. "Oh, geez, I'm sorry," she said, re-settling her purse strap on her shoulder and starting to bend to retrieve the small bag with her new earrings in it. 

"Oh, it's all right," said a smooth tenor voice with tones that played an arpeggio on her spine. "Here, let me get that." He crouched, picked up her little bag, and then looked up at her as he handed her the bag.

Jubilee found herself drowning in his eyes. They were a green-flecked brown, and the seemed to change with every slight movement of his head. "I-i-it's my fault," she finally stammered out, blushing furiously. "I'm a little clumsy, I guess."

"Oh, not at all," said that wonderful voice. "I was in the way. I am most sincerely sorry. I hope whatever this is isn't broken." He peeked into the bag, then reached in and took out the earrings, examining them carefully.

Jubilee supposed that she should be objecting to this guy opening her bag and looking in with impunity, but when he lifted his head, pinned her with his hazel eyes, and smiled at her, she couldn't find it in her to get upset. "They are beautiful," he said warmly. "A beautiful pair of earrings for a beautiful girl."

"Oh, gosh," Jubilee felt her cheeks getting warm again. "Uh…thanks. Really." She ducked around him and headed for the new CD's, feeling like she was thirteen with her first crush. Shaking her head at herself, she reached for the CD she wanted, tried to compose herself by looking at a couple of others, then chose another one and headed for the cashier.

She was waiting in line when a voice spoke right by her ear. 'This is the one thing I don't like about this store," the voice complained. "The line's always too long." Jubilee turned and met the laughing eyes of the guy she'd collided with.

"Isn't it, though? I've often thought the same myself." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, leaned back on one hip, and smiled at him. "You like Amy Lee too?" she asked, indicating the CD he held. He looked at the disc in his hand, then at the one in hers, and laughed. The sound made Jubilee want to melt at the knees.

"Yes, I listen to her too," he said. "She's got an amazing voice." He smiled as he saw the other disc she held. "Is he any good?"

Jubilee looked down. "Toby Keith? I don't know, really, I was buying it for a friend."

"Your boyfriend?"

Jubilee laughed at that one. "He's male, yes, and a friend, but no, he's not my boyfriend." Well, it was the truth; Remy wasn't her boyfriend. Bed buddy, maybe, given the events of the morning, but not a boyfriend. "I'm sort of in between relationships right now."

"Well, that's good," the guy said cheerfully. "So there's nobody in my way if I want to ask you out?"

Jubilee looked up at him and grinned. "Before we go out, might be nice if I knew your name first," she said.

"You don't know who I am?" the boy looked startled. Jubilee frowned.

"Should I have recognized you already? I don't think I've met you before. I'd remember your eyes if I had." She batted her eyelashes in mock flirtation.

The guy threw back his head and laughed. "Oh, that's a new one. I haven't heard that one before. Congratulations, you've just won a prize for saying a pickup line Christian Daniels hasn't heard yet."

Jubilee smiled. "So you're Christian Daniels, the new governor's son," she said. "I recognize the name, although I have to say I hadn't seen your picture. I don't watch the news often." She broke off her conversation as the woman in line in front of her left with her purchase and Jubilee stepped up to the counter. The cahier asked in a bored tone, "Cash or credit?"

"It'll be credit," Christian said from behind Jubilee, putting his CD on the counter beside Jubilee's two and fishing his wallet out of his back pocket. "And it'll be together." Jubilee stared at him.

"What's wrong?" Christian grinned at her. "Have I suddenly grown horns?" 

"You…just bought my CD's for me…" Jubilee fumbled in her purse for her wallet, but Christian's hand on her arm stopped her.

"Don't worry about it," he said genially. "Consider it a gift. I don't mind. Really."

Jubilee blushed as the cashier handed her the bag with all three CD's in it. Christian took it from her. "Let me carry that for you," he said. "And let me offer you your prize."

"What prize?" she smiled at him. Really, it was hard not to, with the way he was smiling back at her.

"You won a prize for 'most original pick up line'," he said. "And your prize is a lunch at any place you want. On me." He gestured to the mall. "Doesn't even have to be here. Anywhere you like in the city."

"Christian!" Jubilee said, shocked. 

"Hmm?" he turned to her, and his eyes were sparkling. "Is it my fault I don't like mall food?"

Jubilee stopped walking and crossed her arms. 'Do you do this with every girl you meet?"

"Nope. Just the special ones," he said, watching her.

"What makes me so special?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. You just are. I actually think I'm pretty lucky to meet a girl as pretty as you who doesn't have a boyfriend already. 'Course, I'd also like to know your name."

Jubilee looked at him for a while, then held out a hand. "Jubilation Lee."

He took her hand, but instead of shaking it, as she expected, he took it and pressed it to his lips. "My pleasure, _mademoiselle_." He spoke with a heavy French accent, and Jubilee giggled. He grinned as they started walking again. "Was that funny? I did study French abroad for a year."

"No, no, it's not that," Jubilee grinned. "The friend I bought the CD for came from Louisiana, and I guess I'm used to hearing his Cajun accent rather than pure French." His accent was actually passable.

Christian grinned. "Lot of difference from Louisiana bayou French and Parisian French," he said. "So where would you like to eat?"

Jubilee shrugged. "I don't know. McDonald's, I guess. I hadn't thought about it."

"Oh. McDonald's." Christian waved a dismissive hand. "How about I pick?"

"All right," Jubilee said. "So where are we going, _Monsieur_ Daniels?" At his look, she smiled, "Well, I didn't grow up around a Cajun without picking up some of the words," she told him.

"He's your father?" Christian asked.

Jubilee giggled at the thought of Remy being anyone's father. "No, he's just…a friend. I live with an extended group of friends just outside town. They're kind of a surrogate family, although we all come from so many different places it's hard to believe we all get along sometimes."

"Sounds interesting," Christian said as he paused by the front doors leading out of the mall. "Come on. I got a taste for the Kiss Café just down the road. It's a short hop in my car." He saw her look. "Don't worry, I'll bring you back here to pick up your car later. What do you say?"

Jubilee smiled. "All right." She took his hand and smiled as they walked out of the mall.

The Kiss Café was a popular hangout in Westchester for romantic couples. Jubilee knew Scott and Jean went there frequently, and Remy took girls there so often the wait staff had a table reserved for him; but Jubilee had never gone there herself. Since she'd come back, she'd basically hung out with Logan and he was more into 'Rex's' and tough bars like that one than he was into little romantic places like Kiss.

Because Scott and Jean went there so often, and liked it, Jubilee was expecting to find a cutesy little restaurant with cutesy decorations and couples looking at each other moon-eyed over sundaes with two straws. She was pleasantly surprised, then, to find an open, airy little restaurant, with tasteful white, dusty rose, and cornflower blue decorations. There were tables set against the walls that had partitions against the seats, to give whoever was sitting in the seats a sense of privacy without separating them entirely from the rest of the restaurant, a touch which Jubilee could see a couple appreciating. The open area to one side held regular cafeteria- tables where singles could sit down and strike up a friendly conversation with a complete stranger and still feel comfortable; and there was even a small area of floor surrounded by a low railing where couples could dance to the vintage- jukebox in the corner.

Christian led her over to one of the screened corner tables, and Jubilee sat down. She was still looking around and staring when the waitress brought over glasses of water and a couple of menus; Christian took them, smiled at the young lady, and then looked at Jubilee, amused. "You've never been here before?"

Jubilee returned her eyes to the young man sitting in front of her. "Actually, no," she admitted. "Some of the others have, and quite frequently too, but I've never come here." She added, with a trace of bitterness in her voice, "Logan never brought me here."

Christian reached forward to capture her hand in his. "Well, I guess that's why Fate made us collide back in the music store," he said, smiling _that_ smile at her, the one that made her knees go weak. "So I could show you some of the things you're missing." He handed her the menu. 'See if you see anything you like on there."

Jubilee eventually settled on the quarter-pound bacon cheeseburger and fries and coleslaw, with Coke on the side. Christian ordered a filet mignon topped with mushroom gravy and a crab cake on the side. Jubilee stared at it when it came. He obviously had a healthy appetite.

The portions were a good size. Jubilee found herself full after she finished the burger, and sat there nibbling her fries and coleslaw as she watched Christian tuck away the food on his plate. He finally sat up, wiped his mouth, and looked amused at what was left on hers. "Couldn't finish it all?" he asked, his eyes twinkling.

"The portions are…very generous," Jubilee grinned. He laughed.

"Generous is an understatement. It's almost indecent here. I always feel like I've gained a few pounds when I walk out." He smiled. "I'm actually surprised you got through the whole burger."

Jubilee grinned and tossed a fry at him, playfully. "Are you saying you don't think I can eat?" she teased.

Christian grabbed the fry and tossed it back at her. "Hell, no. I'm just glad you have a healthy appetite. The last girl I brought here ate one of the salads, and not even the whole thing. And she was skinny as a rail, and always carping on how much weight she'd gained or lost. Finally she dumped me. Only then did I find out that she was anorexic." He looked at Jubilee. "You don't have any neuroses like that, do you?" he asked worriedly.

Jubilee had to laugh at that. "No, I have no problems. The only problem I have is with the other people I live with not being able to see I'm grown up!"

"I meant to ask you about that," Christian sipped his soda. "What kind of place do you live in, with that many people?"

Jubilee fumbled for an explanation. "It's a boarding school," she said. At his look she giggled at him. "Oh, stop that. I don't study there any more, I just live there. After my parents died I went to like a lot of foster homes until I finally wound up on the streets. I saved Logan's…my surrogate father's…life one day, and he sort of took me in after that, and brought me to the school. The teachers all live on the school grounds." She sipped her soda and picked up another fry. "I went back after I finished college last spring, and I guess…I've just been hanging around. The place feels like home. The only problem is, everybody remembers me at thirteen, and they can't see that I'm twenty-three now, and all grown up." She made a face. "It's still 'Jubilee, do this' and 'Jubilee, do that', and lately I've been wondering if I should just move out and find a place here in the city." She sighed.

"That wouldn't be a bad idea," Christian said seriously. "I've been thinking about doing that myself. I mean, it's great living in the governor's mansion and all, but it's kind of restrictive, having Dad's bodyguards and all that stuff around me. I want to strike out on my own."

"That's exactly the way I feel," Jubilee said. And then, as if bent on ruining her good mood, her cell phone rang. She took it out of her purse and looked at the screen. "It's home," she grumbled as she shoved it back into her purse. "I guess I really should be going."

Christian stood as she stood, left the money on the table to pay for their lunch, and opened the door for her as they left the restaurant. He also opened her door for her as she got in and they drove back to the mall where she had left her car. "Thank you, Christian,' Jubilee said as she got out. "I've had a wonderful afternoon."

"Me too," Christian said. 'Want to repeat it soon?"

Jubilee smiled. "Why, Mr. Daniels. Are you asking me out on a date?"

"Let's put it this way. Are there any other romantic spots in the city you would like me to introduce you to?"

Jubilee laughed. "When?"

Christian thought. "Well, how about tomorrow night? We could go for a movie, and dinner. I want to see the new vampire flick, or we could go see a chick flick if you like."

Jubilee laughed. "No, the vamp flick will be fine. I saw the previews, and it looked more exciting than scary. I can sit through that."

"All right. Movie, and then dinner…where would you like to go?"

Jubilee smiled, a slow one that curved the corners of her mouth upwards. "Surprise me."

"Okay. I can do that. Pick you up at seven, then?"

Jubilee rummaged in her purse for a pen and a piece of paper, and scribbled her name and the mansion's address and number on it "Give me a call. And there's the address." He took it with a smile, and handed her the bag with her CD's in it. She took it with a smile and got into her car.

Logan stumped in through the back door, and his eyes narrowed suspiciously as he saw Jubilee, in her pajamas, sitting at the table with a bowl of rocky road ice cream in front of her. What surprised him was the fact that she wasn't eating it; she was staring into space and smiling to herself, a dreamy, pleased sort of smile. "Jubes? You okay?"

"Uh-huh."

"Ice cream okay?"

"Uh-huh."

He narrowed his eyes. "Scott said you better not be late for training tomorrow morning."

"Uh-huh."

"He also said _he_ better not find_ Remy_ in _your_ bed when he wakes you up."

"Uh-huh."

"_I'll_ wallop your ass if I find him in your bed tomorrow."

"Uh-huh."

Logan threw his hands into the air and stomped off to bed.


	4. First Date

Chapter 4: First Date

                Logan paused in the act of pulling on his jacket. Maybe Jubilee would like to go up to Pop's Bar and Grill with him? It had been a little while since they'd gone there, and she usually liked it there. And, although he wouldn't have admitted it, he did owe her an apology for some of the things he'd said. He wasn't sorry for telling her she had no right to be sleeping with Gumbo, of all people; but he hadn't had a right to basically tell her she wasn't old enough to sleep with anyone. He knew all too well that Jubilee was mentally more mature than other girls her age; and he knew that she wasn't a virgin. If the nasty business with Bastion hadn't happened, the carefully-edited letters she'd sent him from college would have brought home the point rather forcefully. Concerned, he'd even slipped a box of his own condoms into her suitcase before she left after one visit. She hadn't said anything about them on the phone, but later she'd sent him a postcard with two words on it. 'Silly Logan!' and a lipstick-colored kiss print next to it. He appreciated the sentiment, if not the lipstick.

                He strolled down the hall to Jubilee's room, knocked gently on the closed door. "Jubes?"

                The sound of music stopped abruptly from inside the room, and a second later Jubilee opened the door. Whatever Logan had been planning to say flew completely out of his head.

                She was wearing a pair of hip-hugging, second-skin-tight jeans that plastered itself all over her legs and showed a lot of smooth tanned skin across her belly. Over top of that was a bright, cherry-red babydoll t-shirt that was just thin enough to show a hint of a bra underneath and a neckline so low he could see a generous amount of cleavage. He opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, and closed it again, a thousand thoughts racing through his mind and not being able to voice a single one of them.

                Jubilee grinned at him and stepped backward, issuing a tacit invitation into her room. "What do you think?" she giggled, turning around in front of him. He had to bite back a growl as he saw the way the jeans molded to her backside and showed the delicate curve of her lower cheeks.

                Logan wondered what to say. As a man, he approved of that outfit entirely, from the cleavage on top to the cleavage on the bottom. As someone looking out for the welfare of a younger female, though…he suppressed a growl. "What's the occasion?"

                "I met this guy at the mall yesterday," Jubilee giggled, sitting down on the end of her bed. "He took me out to lunch at the Kiss Café, and tonight we're going to catch the new vamp flick and then go to dinner."

                "This is…fer a date with another guy?"

                "His name is Christian Daniels."

                Logan bit back another growl. "The fancy-pants rich boy I heard 'bout on TV?" he asked her.

                Jubilee laughed. "Yes, probably. What did you hear?"

                "You ain't goin'."

                Jubilee went from amused to angry all at once. "Why?"

                "I don't want ya goin' out with no fancy pants rich boy who's gonna mistreat ya," he spluttered.

                "What do you mean, 'mistreat'?" Jubilee's blue eyes narrowed.

                "Somebody was talkin' on TV 'bout little rich boys like him that think all ya girls are there for is sex," Logan continued. "I ain't 'bout ta let no one mistreat my girl."

                Jubilee got up. "Christian isn't like that."

                Logan folded his arms. "Jubes, all boys're like that. 'Specially 'round girls dressed like ya are now. Ya ain't goin'."

                "I am too going." Jubilee turned to the mirror and picked up her lipstick.

                "Not like that! Jubes, ya don't know what goes through boys' heads when they see a girl dressed like ya are!"

                Jubilee snorted. "I do know what goes on in boy's heads. Pretty much the same thing that went through your mind when I opened the room door!" She slammed her lipstick down on the dresser top. "Logan, if you're not going to be nice, get out of my room."

                Logan snarled. "Fine! I got better things ta do than nursemaid a silly little girl!"

                Jubilee reached for her stereo, turned it on. The loud music almost, but not quite, drowned out the sound of her own voice as Logan backed away from the noise. "And I got better things to do than listen to a silly old man who can't see what's in front of his face!"

                Logan slammed Jubilee's room door and stomped off down the hall, running into Remy at the top of the stairs. "Outta my way, gumbo," Logan snapped angrily, brushing Remy aside and stomping down the stairs. Remy looked at Logan's retreating back, then at Jubilee's room door, from which loud music issued. He raised an eyebrow and went to that door, knocking on it loud enough to be heard over the sound of the stereo.

                The music stopped, and the doorknob flew back from his hand as he reached for it. "What!?" Jubilee snapped angrily as she looked out…then softened her tone slightly when she saw Remy. "Sorry, Remy. Thought you were Logan."

                Remy didn't say a word. He was too busy staring at Jubilee's outfit. "Jubes…" He swallowed a suddenly-dry mouth and tried again. "Jubes. Can Remy make a suggestion?"

                She cocked her head. "Go ahead."

                "Maybe…maybe you pick anot'er shirt?"

                "What's wrong with the one I have on?"

                Remy sighed. "As a man, I 'prove o' de shirt…"

                Jubilee grinned delightedly. "There you go. I figured it'd be all right…"

                "But as someone who cares 'bout you, I t'ink you better wear somet'ing else. Dat shirt scream 'easy woman' to me. Even t'ough I know you not an 'easy woman', someone who don' know you as well might t'ink you are from de way dat shirt look."

                Jubilee turned and looked in the mirror. "It's that bad?"

                Remy nodded emphatically. "It's dat bad, chere."

                Jubilee started to dig around in her dresser, muttering something about Logan not being clear about his objection, and Remy hid a smile behind his hand. Logan probably hadn't phrased his disapproval diplomatically. He made a mental note to talk to Logan.

                She came up with a blue shirt the same color as her eyes that was a little looser on top than the red shirt had been, but still showed off her trim figure and tiny waist. Remy approved of the shirt. It was pretty, stylish, made her look attractive and showed she was available without making her look like a cheap streetwalker. He escorted her downstairs.

                At promptly seven o'clock the doorbell chimed, and Jubilee opened the door. Remy stared at the guy on the other side of the door. Tall, blond, hazel eyes, chiseled features, and a bunch of roses…but even as Jubilee was gushing over the roses Remy wanted to grind his teeth. It wasn't jealousy; it was something else. He slipped an empathic tendril out toward the other man, and was blocked by a mental shield. That made him even more suspicious. Not many people were so defensive, unless they had something to hide. What was this boy hiding? And then Remy narrowed his eyes as the boy looked directly at him, smiled a distinctly unpleasant smile, and nodded slightly.

                Jean was walking by in the hallway, and smiled at the boy as Jubilee handed her the roses. "Jean, could you find a vase for these and take them up to my room? I'd do it myself but if I do we'll be late for the movie."

                "Of course," Jean said, She smiled at the boy, obviously feeling none of the apprehension that Remy was feeling, and went off toward the kitchen with the flowers as Jubilee headed out the door with her date. He opened her door for her, then got in himself and they drove off.

                Remy stepped out the front door, closed it, then leaned back against it and lit a cigarette. After a long drag on it, he said aloud, "So you don' like him eit'er, _non_, Logan?"

                There was a rustling from behind the juniper bushes beside the front door, and Logan stepped out. "No, I don't," he said grimly. "And I don't know why. He seems nice 'nuff, an' Jean sure didn't notice nothin', but I don't trust that guy." He looked at Remy. "How 'bout  you?"

                Remy shook his head. "Tried to probe him, get a feel for his mind. He shielded. Completely. An' he knew I was probin', too, an' he smiled at me. Wasn' a nice smile, eit'er."

                Logan walked off, muttering.

                Jubilee breezed in the back door to the mansion, humming to herself. The kitchen was dark, but her eyes picked out the glow of a cigarette and the much larger glow of a cigar close to it. She sighed and flipped the switch.

                Logan and Remy were both sitting at the kitchen table smoking. Jubilee wrinkled her nose, her earlier irritation with Logan returning. "You know Charles doesn't like you guys smoking in the mansion," she snapped.

                Logan took the stogie out of his mouth and said, "Siddown, Jubes. We need ta talk."

                Jubilee sat down in the chair. "Okay. I'm sitting. So talk."

                Remy looked at Logan. Logan looked at Remy. Neither one knew how to tell her what they wanted to say. Finally Logan cleared his throat. "Jubilee, we both saw the new boy come to pick you up, and neither one of us thinks he's right for you. I don't think you should go out with him anymore." Then he took a deep sniff of the air, and his eyes narrowed. "Why's his smell all over ya, Jubes?"

                "Why does it matter?" Jubilee said angrily.

                Logan half-stood from his seat and cursed. "Ya slept with him!"

                Jubilee folded her arms. "Yeah? And? So what? I'm old enough to sleep with whoever I want to."

                Logan's chair crashed to the kitchen floor. "Don't give me that, Jubilee! Ya might be physically old enough ta pick whoever ya want ta sleep with but ya got a lot ta learn 'bout boys 'fore ya do!"

                Jubilee's chair also crashed to the floor. "And I bet you're the one that's going to teach me, huh? The big bad Wolverine who's lived so long and yet can't keep a relationship together? The one who chases a woman he'll never have in his dreams while a girl who wants him gets ignored? You're going to teach me? What a laugh!"

                Logan was almost purple in his anger. "Why you spoiled little…" He spluttered, but Jubilee was gone, running down the hall and racing for the stairs, her eyes streaming tears. After a moment, Logan grabbed his bike's keys from the hook by the back door and ran out into the night. Remy listened as the sound of his Harley faded off down the drive. Then he sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Dis is a mess," he said to no one in particular.

                Jubilee flung herself down on her bed and cried stormily into her pillow. _It's not fair,_ she screamed inside her mind. _I can do what I want, I'm old enough! Jean didn't say anything; she would have if something were wrong! What is wrong with him!_ But she knew she'd said some hurtful things to him, too, and she was sorry for them, but she insisted to herself that she wasn't going to apologize until he apologized first.

                With that resolution fixed in her mind she drifted off to sleep.

                Christian drove home, smiling to himself. That tall man with the auburn hair, who had been standing in the hall when Jubilee had opened the door was a mental talent of some sort. He'd felt the other man reaching out to feel Chris's mind, probing. He'd put up shields hurriedly to block the man, something he'd become adept at doing since his father had married his stepmother. The new governor's wife was a telepath; and Chris was sure if she knew what was going on his mind she would have Chris's father talk to him. Or she might get a shrink for him.

                Chris didn't think he needed a shrink. He wasn't sick, after all. He just liked everything around him to conform _exactly_ to the way he wanted it to. He liked having everything around him follow his instructions, his expectations. He wasn't an obsessive, controlling freak, like his last girlfriend had said he was. And anyway, the girl had become addicted to the very first hit of drugs he'd given her, and was now selling herself for her drugs, so who cared what a crackhead girl thought of the way he wanted things?

                Things were going very well with this new girl, Jubilation Lee. The mansion she lived in was impressive; and she dressed with taste, style and elegance. He didn't care about her money; but living with rich people, fancy people like the ones that surely lived in that mansion, would have taught her social graces and nice manners. And she was amenable to his suggestions, which she'd proved by going with him to 'Kiss', and this evening to the Rose Restaurant. She was perfect for him; she would make the perfect wife. Oh, she still had a couple of regrettable faults, like stubbornness (she'd insisted on paying for her own ticket) and selfishness (she had insisted that he take her home after they'd made love in his city apartment, instead of letting him sleep) but he was sure that with a little training, she'd make a wonderful wife indeed. And she was so pretty, and so exotic, with her long dark hair and those odd blue eyes…he would be the envy of everyone in his social circle for having such a beautiful, well-behaved wife.

                Yes, Jubilation Lee was perfect. Now all he had to do was take the wedge he'd started to drive between his new wife and her 'family' at the mansion, and drive it in deeper. Then she'd move out of there, and move in with him. And then he could marry her, and begin to train her to be a proper wife to him.

                Yes, Jubilation Lee was perfect.


	5. The Governor's Ball

Chapter 5: The Governor's Ball

                Jubilee turned in front of the mirror. "Are you sure?" she asked worriedly.

                "Yes!" Jean said, exasperated. "It looks fine!"

                Jubilee turned her head so she could see the back of the dress. "I don't know. Maybe it makes my butt look too fat?"

                Jean rolled her eyes. "It does not. Trust me, you look fine. Your boyfriend will think you look fine."

                Jubilee reached for the zipper. "Maybe I'd better look around a little more before I decide," she said.

                Jean sighed. "We've already been in almost every single dress store in the mall. There's been something wrong with every dress you've tried on so far. If Christian really likes you, Jubilee, he's not going to care what you're wearing."

                "Well, he might not, but this is the Governor's Ball we're going to!" Jubilee fretted. "It's the first time I'm going to meet his parents, and I want to make a good first impression."

                "They'll love you, Jubilee," Jean said warmly, looking at her. "You're a beautiful girl. And a pretty dress will just be icing on a very good cake."

                Jubilee looked over at Jean. "Really? You think so?"

                "Yes. I do." Jubilee looked at her reflection in the mirror one more time, then at the pile of dresses, and reached for a long strapless cranberry satin gown with silver rhinestones on it and a slight train. "Okay. I like this one. I hope he likes it too."

                "Christian?"

                "Yes. He likes everything to match," Jubilee said slightly embarrassed at Chris' foibles. "He asked me to please find something in red, because it would match his vest."

                Jean raised an eyebrow, but refrained from comment. "Well, this is red. It should work. Come on, let's go find shoes and purse and scarf."

                Logan stumped in the back door carrying his motorcycle helmet and jacket. Hey," he nodded briefly to Scott, and then turned to Jean. "Where's Jubes?"

                "She's upstairs." As Logan headed for the stairs, Jean raised her eyebrows. "I wouldn't go up there right now."

                "Why?" Logan eyed Jean suspiciously. "She still ain't talkin' ta me?"

                Jean smiled gently at him. "Besides that. She's going to the Governor's Ball tonight with Christian; she's getting ready upstairs. You don't want to walk in on her nude; she's already upset enough with you and Remy as it is." And then, unable to restrain her curiosity anymore, Jean looked at him. "If you don't mind my asking, what _did_ you say to her that got her all upset at both of you that night? She hasn't spoken more than two words to you for the last month!"

                Logan growled. "None o' yer business, Red," he snapped. He turned, started to walk out of the kitchen, then sighed. "A'right. Rem an' I was waitin' fer her when she came home that night, an' I smelled that new boy all over her. She'd gone an' slept with him. I lost my temper an' tol' her she had a lot ta learn 'bout boys b'fore she starts sleepin' around. She didn' take too kindly ta me tellin' her what she should or shouldn't do."

                "As if you've ever been good at doing what other people told _you_ to do." Logan looked up at the sound of that tart comment from the door and his jaw dropped.

                "Jubes…" He couldn't say a word. She took his breath away.

                The dress hugged her full bust and slim torso before flaring out into a long, full satin skirt that trailed slightly behind her. Crystal beads and silver embroidery accented the top of the dress, and the matching scarf over her shoulders accented the ruby-and diamond necklace she had borrowed from Jean. Small matching earrings winked back at him from her earlobes. He stared, unable to think of a single thing to say. He'd seen her in all sorts of outfits, and on a few occasions completely outfit-less, but he'd never seen her as a grown woman. Somewhere in the back of his mind, the image of the yellow-trenchcoat-wearing smart-ass kid disappeared, to be replaced by this image of her gowned and groomed to perfection. He knew he'd never look at her the same. "Jubilee, you look…great." It sounded a little abrupt, but he couldn't think of any other word.

                Jubilee looked at him. "And you look dirty." She glanced at him. His boots were covered in mud; his black jeans were caked with it; the jacket slung carelessly over his shoulder had traces of drying mud on it, and even the cowboy hat pulled down low over his forehead had splatters of mud on it. "You were down at Dotson's Barbecue Pit tonight, weren't you?" She stepped around the puddle of mud on the kitchen floor. "Better clean it up before 'Ro sees it. She spent half the day with Rogue cleaning the floor." Her voice was severe, but she had a slight twinkle down in the corner of her eye, and Logan sighed inwardly to himself. He was forgiven.

                "Yeah, well, Jimmy over at the Pit said he ain't seen ya in a while an' he missed ya. He asked me if ya'd come ta Chick Night with me in a couple o' weeks. He 'minded me ya gotta defend yer title as 'Best Looking In A Wet T-Shirt'." He grinned at her.

                "You entered a wet t-shirt contest? Jubilee!" Jean exclaimed, and Scott looked shocked.

Jubilee turned pink, then broke into a grin. "Yeah, the winner got one free drink each night they came in for the entire year. Wow, I haven't gone there in a while. Think they'll let me catch up on those free drinks?" She grinned.

                Logan wrinkled his nose at her. "Naw. Ya lost'em, ya lost 'em. However, I seen the gal they're bettin' on as the current favorite, an' she ain't got nothin' on ya."

                Jubilee grinned wider. "Now I know I have ta go. If only to see this girl." She sobered. "But not tonight. Christian's taking me to the Governor's Ball tonight to meet his parents. I don't know how long we'll have to stay, so don't wait up for me, okay?" She leaned over and hugged Jean, then gave Logan a quick peck on the cheek as she ran to the front door to answer the doorbell. Seconds later the door closed and the mansion was quiet again.

                Scott stared disapprovingly at Logan. "I'm not sure this Christian is an entirely bad thing. At least he'll keep her out of the redneck bars. Honestly, Logan, Jubilee in a wet T-shirt contest? At a bar? What were you thinking?"

                Logan coughed behind his hand, trying to hide an embarrassed smile. "Eh, well, we wasn' really thinking. Jubes had her first taste o' tequila, an' it went ta her head. She got up there and…did her thing…and walked off with a year's worth of free first drinks."

                Scott shook his head disapprovingly. "Jubilee shouldn't be participating in stupid bar stunts like that," he said, taking a sip of his tea.

                Logan bristled. "So she got some rough edges, Scott. So what? Ya expectin' her ta grow up pure as the driven snow like Red? Jubes grew up on the streets, an' she's got a lotta dirt in her soul. She ain't never gonna be satisfied with this fancy life this guy Chris's offerin' her. Jubes'd rather eat pizza and visit a bar once in a while than sit in fancy restaurants an' eat fancy food an' go to country clubs every single day."

                "But how do you know that, Logan?" Jean countered. "That might have been true of the girl we once knew, but she's been somewhat different since she came back from college. One of her college friends introduced her to the finer things in life, and she admitted to me that she misses it. Jubilee's too young to know what she really wants yet, Logan. She still has a lot of life left to sample before she decides on any one particular lifestyle."

                Logan shook his head. "She ain't like that," he insisted, though he sounded a little uncertain. "She still likes a good barfight."

                Jean sighed. "You can think what you like, Logan, but Jubilee is different. And when you get around to seeing that she's all grown up, maybe you'll see that the rough life isn't what she wants." Logan stood there staring at Jean for a moment more before turning on his heel and going up the back stairs to his room.

                He shucked his dirty clothes, tossing them in his hamper, and then checked his drawers for the new shirt and boxers he'd bought the day before. He couldn't find them. He was about to head downstairs toward the laundry room to see if they'd gotten left in the dryer by mistake when he saw the note taped to the side of the hamper, half-hidden by the dirty clothes he'd just tossed on top of it. It was in Jubilee's handwriting, and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he read it.

                "Logan: I took the liberty of washing some of your stuff with mine earlier. In case you're looking for any of your dark clothes, they'll be folded on my bed waiting for you to pick them up. And Logan? I'm sorry I called you an old man, and got on you about Jean. Old flames don't die easy." The note was signed simply, "Jubes."

                Logan smiled as he fingered the note. Jubilee didn't apologize often; she wasn't good at it, and in her younger days she tried to avoid doing it at all. It was a sign of her maturity that she had told him she was sorry first.

                He wandered into her room. His clothes sat neatly-folded on the end of her neatly-made bed. Her clothes were tucked away into the dresser drawers and hung in her closet. This was also a change from her sloppy teenager days, when clothes would be strewn all around her room and all over every empty piece of furniture. Her room was neat, everything was in its place. Even the old cowboy hat he'd given her a long time ago was in place on the dresser table.

                The only thing out of place was the letter on the dresser top. It was addressed to her, written in a masculine hand, and Logan was positive that he shouldn't look, but curiosity got the better of him.

                The first page was an invitation to the Governor's Ball, and it was done on expensive heavy paper with fancy gold embossing and scented with a few dried rose petals. The page under it, however was a lot more personal.

                _Dear Jubilation,_ it began.

                _I love you. I've never said this to anyone before, and even now I can't bring myself to say it to you. That's why I'm writing it. I know things have been a little strained at your place for a few weeks; you haven't been your usual cheerful self. I wanted to ask you if you might reconsider moving into my apartment with me, since things are so difficult. I know what you said before, but there are two bedrooms, if you're worried about decorum, though I doubt that's an issue with the way we were carrying on last night. Your 'family' at the mansion obviously can't see you for the beautiful, sexy young woman you've become, so why not move in with me? Maybe once you're out on your own, they'll see different._

                _And I went to the little restaurant you told me about, 'Alexandra's?' The one you said your friend Remy took you too? Well, it's a little lower class than I'm used to, and the food left a lot to be desired, but if you really like it I suppose I could let you go there once in a while. So if you want to lunch there tomorrow I can probably meet you outside when you're done. But I insist that we go to '21' for dinner. I'll finalize our plans and tell you where we're going tonight. Looking forward to seeing you. Love, Chris._

                Logan put the letter down slowly. He was trying to get Jubilee to move in with him? Things must be serious. That disturbed him.

                What disturbed him more was the tone of the letter. He would _let_ Jubilee go to her favorite restaurant _once in a while_? The arrogance of that line made Logan grind his teeth. Christian Daniels sounded like an irritating little bastard. The boy was so wrapped up in what _he_ liked or didn't like that he was going to let Jubilee have lunch alone? If Gumbo took Jubilee there it was almost certainly a couples place, and she would feel awkward eating alone. And Logan knew Jubilee hated feeling out-of-place. So she would change her lunch plans just because the rich brat didn't like the restaurant she liked.

                The boy was selfish, plain and simple. Egocentric and controlling. Logan figured Jubilee must not have seen that yet, or she would have run the other way as fast as she could. She would never have put up with it. He clenched his hand around the paper, crumpling it in his fist, and dropped it back onto her dresser as he collected his clothes off the end of the bed and left her room.

                He dumped his clothes off in his room and sat on the end of the bed, brooding. Gumbo wasn't that selfish. He consulted the lady's preference before his own. He'd never try to control Jubilee like that. And, now that he thought about it, that morning Gumbo's scent had been on her but not _on_ her; there was a difference. Logan would be willing to bet that he'd jumped to the wrong conclusion…

                He slid off the bed and went down the hall to Remy's room. The Cajun was putting the clothes Rogue had washed for him in his own dresser, and since privacy wasn't needed, his room door was open. Logan still tapped on the edge of the doorframe before he walked in. "Hey, Cajun, ya got any plans fer tomorrow?"

                Remy squinted up at him. "As a matter of fact, I do," he said carefully. "Why?"

                Logan growled, "Cancel 'em. At least fer lunch. Jubes wants ta go ta Alexandra's fer lunch tomorrow, but her fancy-pants boyfriend don't like the place. He says the food sucks an' the service is lousy. An' ya know how Jubes is; she'll put aside all o' her plans if he don't like 'em."

                Remy closed the dresser and stood carefully. "You don' like it when Jubilee an' I hang toget'er, _mon ami_," he said warily. "Not usually. What change your min' dis time?"

                "You don't try to control her like this guy does," Logan growled. "An' now that I think of it, that mornin' when I saw ya in her room…yer scent wasn't on her like it woulda been if ya actually slept wit' her. Am I right?"

                "You right," Remy said, sitting down on his bed and leaning back against the headboard lazily. "Not'ing happen. Jubes have little too much vodka. I took her up to her room. Remy have too much t'drink too, so I stay wit' her cause I couldn' get to my room neit'er. But you an' Boy Scout back dere," he jerked his thumb back in the direction of Scott and Jean's room, "Were doin' such a good job of gettin' her started up Remy figure I'd let you learn 'bout her new stubborn streak on your own."

                Logan narrowed his eyes. 'She's always had a stubborn streak."

                Remy grinned. "Not like dis. Didn' she kick you out o' her room a few minutes later?" he grinned. "Jubes don' like bein' tol' she's wrong. She hate even more to admit she wrong. Notice she didn' tell you she sorry yet."

                "She did," Logan said. "In her own way."

                Remy raised an eyebrow, but when Logan didn't volunteer any further information, he nodded. "But it take her nearly a mont' to say sorry. She got a temper. Dis fancy-pants boyfrien' not goin' to last long wit' her, 'less he got a temper to match. Don' worry 'bout it, Logan." Then he smiled again. "An while we at it, how 'bout _you_ take her to Alexandra's 'stead of me?"

                Logan's eyes widened. "I ain't comf'trble in places like that, ya know that," he growled.

                Remy leaned forward. "Look, Logan. You love de girl. She love you. You always take her where you want to go. You don' give her a chance to show you what she like. If you see her in some of de places she go to sometimes, you be able to see how much she grown. Why don' you give her a chance?"

                Logan considered. "Maybe I will," he said.

                He returned to his room still thinking about what Remy had said, and picked up the note Jubilee had written. He fingered it for a moment, a tender little smile tugging at his lips, before he put the note carefully in a small box under his bed, the box where he kept all his mementos. He slid the box back under the bed before hunting through his drawers for his good pants.


	6. I'll Always Be Here

Chapter 6:

                Jubilee was sitting on her bed reading when there came a tap at her door. She looked up. "Remy?"

                "_Oui_, p'tite," Remy grinned roguishly at her. "Was wonderin' if you had any plans for lunch?"

                Jubilee took a quick glance at her dresser, where she'd seen the crumpled note when she came in early this morning. Ah. "Why were you in my room last night, Remy?"

                Remy blinked. "Wasn' in your room, p'tite," he looked puzzled. "Why you ask?"

                Jubilee picked up the crumpled note and showed it to him. "I assume you know that I have no lunch plans because Chris doesn't like 'Alexandra's'. Which is why you came to ask me. And the only way you'd know that was if you'd read the note Chris sent me. And I assume the one who read the note was the same one who crumpled it after they read it. So, Remy, why were you in my room last night?"

                "Uh…" Remy wasn't sure how to answer her. Logan was the one who had crumpled up the note. But he and Jubilee had just gotten back on speaking terms with each other; Remy didn't want to ruin the tentative making-up they were doing by telling her who really had crumpled the note.

                Jubilee saw the hesitation, the suddenly uncertain look in Remy's eyes. She winced at her own harsh tone. She shouldn't have snapped at him like that. It was just…She felt like she was caught in the middle. Whoever had crumpled the note had obviously not agreed with Chris; she didn't either, but she felt like she had to defend him because she was going out with him. She hated trying to make excuses for people around her. Well, if whoever-it-was hadn't intruded on her room, she wouldn't have had to make excuses. It was none of their business, as Chris had told her last night. She was old enough to do what she wanted to do.

                Jubilee sighed. "Never mind, Remy. I'm not really in the mood to go out for lunch anyway," which was a lie, but it would get him off the hook, "I think I'll just go make myself a sandwich." She brushed past him stiffly and left the room, leaving Remy standing there utterly bemused. As soon as she disappeared down the stairwell, Remy knocked on Logan's room door.

                "Yeah," came the reply. He opened the door and raised an eyebrow at Logan.

                "Why you crumple up Jubilee's note?" he said coolly. "I jus' got yelled at for somet'ing you do. Now Jubes won't speak to me for a mont' eit'er."

                Logan looked contrite. "I'm sorry, Remy," he said. "I got mad when I read that note; I didn't even 'member crumplin' up the paper. I don't know what she sees in that selfish, egocentric little…" He trailed off, muttering to himself.

                "S'okay, _mon ami_," Remy said, smiling a little. It wasn't often that the big, bad Wolverine got flustered by someone of the opposite gender, but it was almost worth getting yelled at to see the cagey dancing Logan and Jubilee were doing around each other. When would Logan take his head out of his ass and realize Jubilee was trying to get his attention? "Maybe you take her out tonight an' get dat pretty boy out o' her head?" his eyes twinkled.

                Logan perked up. "Maybe I will," he said slowly. "Maybe I will."

                Jubilee opened her closet, looked in. Chris had just called and asked her to accompany him to dinner tonight at '21'. She really didn't feel like going out with him tonight; she was still upset that someone had read her personal letter. But maybe if she went out she could get her mind off the tension here at home.

                What to wear? She'd never been there, although she had heard Warren talk about taking dates there. Fancy, he'd said. Well, maybe she could pick something and get his opinion.

                Red. Chris liked red. Jubilee favored blue because it brought out the color of her eyes; she considered her eyes her best feature, but she had to admit a bright red highlighted her black hair, which she'd grown out long because Logan liked long hair. Chris didn't, and thought it messy because it got so tangled when she was in bed with him. He'd been pressing her delicately over the last couple of days to get it cut, had even taken her by the salon where his mother got her hair done, hoping Jubilee would agree to cut it. He'd been disappointed when she came out with just trimmed ends.

                She dug through the dresses hanging at the back of her wardrobe. She did have that nice black cocktail dress that came to just over her knees; but Chris liked red. Oh, there was the turquoise dress that she'd worn to 'Alexandra's' with Remy…but Chris liked red. Frustrated, she closed her closet door and headed out into the hall.

                She climbed the stairs into the storage attics, and stood there looking at the boxes stacked and piled against the walls. The large one marked 'dresses' was at the bottom of the stack next to the door. She sighed and started pulling other boxes down.

                She bent to pick up the last box before the one she wanted. As she straightened up, something inside the box shifted and sent her off balance. She fell backward, the box on top of her, and howled in pain as it landed on top of her with a crash.

                There was the sound of footsteps on the attic stairs, and then the door burst open. Logan took one look at the figure sprawled under what looked like a heavy box and struggling to push it off, crossed the room swiftly, and lifted the box off Jubilee. "Jubes? Ya okay?" He peered worriedly down at her.

                Jubilee lay there on her back, groaning. "I think I'll live," she said finally, cracking open one eye and looking at him. "Thanks, Logan."

                He put the box down and held out a hand to her, offering to help her up. She took it gratefully, using it to pull herself up, and lifted the front hem of her shirt a few inches. The red mark across her middle was fading, but Jubilee could feel the bruised muscles underneath. "That's going to leave a mark," she grumbled.

                Logan ran a finger over the mark. 'Yeah, but it shouldn't bother ya if ya take it easy an' don't put pressure on it," he said. "What are ya doin' up here luggin' 'round heavy boxes for?"

                "I was trying to get to that one," Jubilee indicated the box marked 'dresses'. "Trying to find something to wear tonight."

                Logan raised an eyebrow. "All them clothes ya got in yer room an' ya don't got nothin' ta wear?" he threw up his hands in mock confusion, but his eyes were twinkling. "I'll never understan' ya girls."

                Jubilee threw a playful punch at him that landed on his upper arm. "Oh, shut up and help me with this box. Chris likes red, and I don't have any red dresses. And I thought I saw one of Jean's old dresses up here that should work out. Help me with this, will you?" Logan almost turned and left at the mention of Christian's name, but he never could refuse Jubilee when she asked him for something. He dragged the box out for her, then sat down on the floor and slit the packing tape with a claw for Jubilee.

                She started lifting out dresses. "Oh, look, here's the bridesmaid dress 'Ro wore to Jean and Scott's wedding." She started giggling. "You're lucky you missed it; the dresses were awful. Rogue swore Jean did that deliberately so that she'd be the prettiest woman that day."

                Logan eyes the dress Jubilee was holding. Yes, it was pretty tasteless, for Jean anyway. He couldn't imagine seeing Ororo wearing that shade of yellow voluntarily. "It's kinda ugly," he agreed as Jubilee set aside that one and picked up another one. "Hey, that one's nice," he said. "Wear that one." All the dust was getting to his nose.

                Jubilee held it up. "It's Rogue's old one, the green one she wore for her first New Year's party here at the mansion. It's pretty. I've always liked it." She stood up, holding it against her body. "You think it's too off the shoulder for a dinner?" she asked.

                Logan stared at the dress, thinking about what it would look like on Jubilee. "Nah," he said finally. He could imagine touching the warm skin of her bare shoulder just above the fabric. "Should be okay for a dinner."

                Jubilee put it down reluctantly. "But it's not red. Chris wants me to wear red."

                Logan narrowed his eyes. "Ya oughtta wear what ya wanna wear, not what somebody else wants ya ta wear." As Jubilee leaned over the box again, he caught a swinging, blunt-cut lock of heavy black hair. "Is he why ya got yer hair cut?" He'd noticed the missing two inches trimmed off the end of her hair.

                "It was just a trim," Jubilee said, blushing and looking down inside the box. She looked embarrassed. "Chris wanted me to get it cut real short, like I used to wear it when I was thirteen."

                Logan captured her hand in his. "Jubes, look at me. Don't do stuff 'cause ya wanna make somebody else happy, do stuff 'cause it makes _you_ happy. Do ya like yer hair the way it is?"

                Jubilee nodded slowly. "And you like it long too," she said.

                "Never mind 'bout me. If ya like it long, keep it long, if ya like it short, cut it short. Do what _you_ want." He reached out and brushed her cheek gently. "If Christian can't accept ya the way ya are, can't accept yer likes and dislikes and faults, then he ain't worth botherin' with. If he don't accept ya the way ya are, then he don't love ya, an' ya shouldn't be wastin' yer time with him."

                "I guess," Jubilee still sounded uncertain. "Logan? Do you love me?"

                Logan froze. Jubilee saw his expression, and misread it. "I mean, I know you do, you show it all the time, letting me hang with you when I was younger and stuff like that, but…you've never said it…" She broke off, blushing furiously, and dug into the box again.

                Logan recovered from his surprise and captured her wrist in his hand as she came up out of the box holding the red dress she had been looking for. "Jubes. I didn't realize I ain't never told ya I loved ya…but I do. I love yer spunk, yer sass, yer stubbornness, yer will, everythin' bout ya. I wouldn't change a single damn thing. _We_ might not have worked out, but I'll always be here for ya."

                Jubilee leaned across the box and kissed him gently on the lips before snuggling her cheek against his. He stroked the back of her head, feeling her soft hair against his fingertips. God, he loved that hair. He'd hate to see it go. But it was her choice. "I love you too, Logan," she said softly, tenderly, and he felt his heart pound. She'd never used that tone on him before. She stayed there for a moment, her cheek pressed to his, then picked up the red dress and bounced out of the attic.

                He slowly gathered up the scattered dresses, rubbing his cheek where she'd kissed him. He paused as he started to put the green dress back in the box, again imagining what she'd look like with it on, then tucked it under his arm and took it with him when he left the attic.

                Jubilee breathed a big sigh of relief as they stepped out of the restaurant. "Now that we've gone to your restaurant, let me take you to mine," she said to Chris.

                Chris made a face. "Not to Alexandra's, thank you," he said stiffly. "I really didn't like it there. I don't know what you see in such a low-class place."

                "Oh, no, not Alexandra's," Jubilee said cheerfully. "I want to take you where we can get some real food."

                "Real food…what we had in there was 'real food'," Chris said to her. "What do you call real food?"

Jubilee grinned. "I'll show you," she said.

Maynard's Bar and Grill was crowded, but not unduly so. Chris stood stiffly in his jacket and tie as Jubilee stripped off her dress jacket and cheerfully led him through the crowd toward an empty table in the back. They were halfway there when she spotted a familiar cowboy hat at a nearby table. "Logan!" She detoured around a large table to stop at his booth. "Hey! Thought you'd be playin' pool with Remy!" She leaned over to give him a kiss.

Chris bit his lip. He wasn't happy with this turn of events. Not happy at all. Apparently Jubilee had made up with her friend. He would have to do something to separate them again, something drastic, to make them angry enough at each other that Jubilee would move in with him. He already had the apartment ready, with a closet full of clothing he'd picked for her. He tugged sharply on her arm. "Jubilee," he said.

Jubilee blushed, embarrassed. 'Oh, I'm sorry," she stammered. "This is my friend Logan, Chris. Logan, this is Christian Daniels." She looked anxious.

Logan held his hand out. Jubilee could tell from the way his stance had shifted that he didn't like Chris, but she also knew that he wouldn't voice his objection to the boy here in a crowd. "Pleased to meet you,' he said stiffly. Chris ignored the hand.

"Jubilee, can we go?" he said instead. 'I'm not impressed with your place here. I want to go."

"Maynard's has the best babyback ribs and buffalo wings you can get!" Jubilee protested. "I've been wanting some all night!"

"Then you should have ordered ribs back at '21'," Chris said, taking her arm. "Come on, we're going home." Jubilee followed him out, with a last apologetic look back at Logan.

She sat down in the front passenger seat and folded her arms as Chris got into the drivers' side. "You were a little rude in there," she said coolly as Chris got in. "Logan offered you his hand, and you didn't take it."

"I didn't want to," Chris said. "Come on, sweetheart, I don't like arguing. I'm sorry. Just…he didn't wipe his hands, and I didn't want to get all that barbecue sauce all over my hands and shirt." He leaned over and kissed her. "Come on. Let's head back to my place." Jubilee settled back in her seat reluctantly and watched the buildings zip past the window as Chris made his best time getting back to his parents' house. "Aren't we going to your apartment?" she asked finally.

"Naw, I'm having some painting done in it, and I don't want to smell paint all night," he said. "Mother and Dad are skiing in Colorado, so we have the place to ourselves. I wanted to show you the new Jacuzzi they just got. I'm going to get one for the apartment if you like it."

They got out of his Mercedes and Chris gave the keys to the butler. "Park it in the garage for me, would you, Jones?" he said. "And have Mae draw a bath in the Jacuzzi upstairs."

"Very good, Master Chris," the man said stiffly. Chris led Jubilee up the stairs without a backward glance, and Jubilee blinked as she followed him. What would it be like living in a place where people would park your car for you and run your bath? She was flattered by the idea, but at the same time uncomfortable. _Oh well_, she thought, _I guess Chris was brought up like that. I certainly couldn't do that_.

She had to admit, however, when she got upstairs to Chris's bathroom and saw the deep tub with mounds of bubbles in it, and a maid adding more foamy liquid to it, that it was romantic. The maid left two glasses and a bottle of whiskey beside the tub before she left, closing the servant's entrance behind her. Chris stripped, leaving his clothes in an untidy pile beside the tub, and stepped in Jubilee followed suit.

They had a nice long, leisurely bath in lavender scented water, Chris occasionally tossing back a shot of whiskey as they relaxed. As a result, when they climbed out of the now-tepid water, he was definitely inebriated. Jubilee had had a couple too, so after she toweled off, she lay on his bed for a moment to clear her head before asking him to take her home.

"Stay," Chris said slowly, leisurely, as he ran a hand down her leg. "You're old enough to stay out all night on your own. It's nobody's business if you don't want to return. I bet your friend Logan spends a night away occasionally."

"Yeah," Jubilee relaxed on the bed lazily. "More than occasionally. He always tells someone if he's not coming, though."

"If you call they're going to know, and they'll get curious. Why not surprise them?" Jubilee thought for a moment, then nodded. The whiskey was spreading a warm glow through her, and the fact that others at the mansion might be worried never crossed her mind. "I guess you're right," she sighed.

"I know I'm right," Chris sprawled out on the bed next to her, and started kissing her. She groaned as he stroked her body, wringing soft moans of pleasure from her lips as he played with her, and every thought fled her mind.


	7. Argument Again

Chapter 7: Argument Again              

Logan woke with a start as sun from the living room window touched his eyes. He cursed himself for falling asleep as he checked his watch. Seven o'clock!

                He sprang up off the couch and ran up the stairs toward Jubilee's room. She probably hadn't seen him in the darkened living room last night when she came in, and had probably gone straight to her room to sleep. She had to have gotten in really late last night…or really early this morning, whichever way you chose to look at it, because he distinctly recalled the last time he'd checked his watch it had been two in the morning.

                He tapped lightly on her door. "Jubes?" There was no answer. Maybe she hadn't heard him. He knew he shouldn't just walk into her room uninvited, but he really needed to talk to her, so he knocked again and said, "Jubes, I gotta talk ta ya. I'm comin' in." He pushed open her room door.

                He felt a mild sense of chagrin when he realized he'd been talking to an empty room. Chagrin turned to surprise. Why wasn't she in bed? Maybe she'd gotten up already?

                He turned at the sound of a footfall and saw Jean walking by the door. "Hey, Jean?"

                The redhead blinked and rubbed her eyes. "Kind of early for you to be awake, isn't it?" she yawned and stretched. "Where's Jubilee?"

                "That's what I wanna find out," he said. "Can ya call her, find out where she is?"

                Jean's eyes went vaguely unfocused as she reached out telepathically, then her eyes widened. "She's not home."

                "WHAT!?" Logan's shout woke everyone sleeping in that wing of the mansion.

                "Hush," Jean said mildly, slightly annoyed. "You'll wake everyone up. I said, she's not home."

                "Then where the hell is she?!" He started to pace her room floor.

                Jean sighed and crossed her arms. "She went out last night with her new boyfriend, didn't she? Maybe she's not back yet."

                "Then she shoulda called! I'm gonna wring her neck fer this!" He started to pace faster.

                Jean started at him, puzzled. "Logan, why are you so upset?"

                "SHE'S SUPPOSED TA COME HOME!"

                "You don't always come home every night," Jean said, so reasonably Logan wanted to strangle her too. "Why should she? She's twenty-three now, Logan, not thirteen. She can stay out all night if she wants to."

                "But she's--" Logan bit off the rest of what he was going to say. "Look, I went to Maynard's last night for a drink. Jubes came in with that fancy-pants boyfriend of hers briefly. I don't like him, Jean."

                "Oh my," Jean said, clearly amused. "I think you're jealous."

                "I AM NOT JEALOUS!" Logan roared. Jean watched him pace with a smile hovering around her lips. "It ain't funny, Red!"

                "Yes it is," Scott said suddenly, his head appearing in the doorway beside Jean's. "She's found someone else, and you're jealous."

                Logan took a deep breath, fighting down his temper. "I. Am. Not. Jealous," he said evenly, spacing his words out through gritted teeth. "The bartender at Maynard's tol' me this boy she's goin' out with has a rep for roughin' up women. I'm worried 'bout Jubes."

                Jean and Scott exchanged glances, then Jean said gently, "Logan, Jubilee's a grown woman. She can handle herself. She can fight with us against the Sentinels and all the other baddies out there; some little rich boy who thinks she's a delicate little hothouse flower will get an unpleasant surprise if they try anything. Trust her. If he tries anything, she won't hang around."

                They all heard the front door close hard on the heels of Jean's words. Logan didn't wait for Jean's warning hiss. He took off toward the stairs like he'd been shot from a cannon. "Where have you been!?" Scott and Jean heard Logan's bellow from halfway down the stairs.

Jean closed her eyes and hid her eyes with her hand. "Oh, boy," she said to Scott. "Do you think we should sell tickets?"

Scott shrugged, eyes twinkling. "No one would pay for them," he said, over the sound of Logan's tirade. "They can hear just fine."

                Jubilee closed the front door, sighing. Bed. She wanted to go to bed, curl up and sleep for a week. She yawned. Chris was an energetic lover; she'd lost count of how many times she'd woken up last night to feel his hand on her body. It was a little annoying, but at the same time terribly flattering to know that someone wanted her so much.

                She started to climb the stairs, half-asleep, running through the plans for the day to see if there was anything else she needed to do before she went to sleep. Like a Danger Room session? Try as she might, she couldn't remember Scott scheduling any such thing, and so headed up toward her room with a lighter heart.

                "Where have you been!?"

                The shout woke her from her half-asleep stupor. She stared stupidly up at Logan's angry expression, trying to figure out what he was yelling about. After a bit, his words started to penetrate her sleep-fogged brain.

                "…and ya shouldn' be out 'till all hours like that, ya had me all worried, why didn't ya call or somethin', I been worryin' that somethin' happened ta ya, and do ya have any idea what that's like?!"

                She waited for him to pause for breath, then said coolly, "As if I haven't sat awake more nights than I can count waiting for you to come home from one of your little trips! You don't call when you're staying out nights, and in case you didn't notice, Logan, I am not a little girl anymore! I don't have to tell everyone where I am at every given moment, and I don't have a curfew anymore!"

                Logan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Ya may not have a curfew any more, but it's still polite ta let us know where ya are, or at least call an' tell us ya ain't comin' home! Besides, yer goin' out with some stupid git I can't stand seein' ya with! Is it any wonder I'm worried 'bout ya?"

                There was a pause for a moment, then Jubilee exploded. "So that's it! You're jealous of Chris!" Her voice rose in volume. "Just because you don't want me doesn't mean others won't, Logan! Just because you can't force your stubborn thick skull to realize I'm a grown woman doesn't mean others can't see the same thing! You don't want me, so why feel bad if I find someone who does? Get over yourself, Logan!" She brushed past him and raced up the stairs. Jean and Scott barely had time to get out of her way before she hurled herself into her room and slammed the door with such force the boom echoed through the mansion.

                Logan stormed to that closed door and tried the knob. It didn't open. For a moment Jean thought he might actually break the lock on the door to get to Jubilee, but he just pounded his fist on the door and yelled, "Well if that's the way ya want it, fine! I got better things ta think about than a spoiled little brat!"

                "FINE!" Jubilee hollered from the other side of the door.

                "FINE!" Logan hollered back. He stomped away before Jubilee could get her last word in.

                Jean stared at the wall. "You think the mansion's going to survive them being angry with each other?" she asked Scott.

                Scott sighed as he looked at the slammed door. "It's survived so far," he said. "If it doesn't, Charles can always rebuild it. Come on, let's get some coffee."

                Logan finally paused in his workout, breathing heavily. The anger had burned off.

                He could never stay mad at Jubilee, not for long. His anger toward her was hot anger, gone as soon as the air cooled, although some of the things he'd said to her wouldn't be blown away quite as easily. He shouldn't have called her a spoiled brat, because she wasn't. And he _hadn't_ waited for her to come home all that long, if you considered how long she would wait for him to come back from Japan, or Canada, or one of any other number of places he'd vanished to over the years. One night waiting for Jubes wasn't really anything, if you considered she waited months for him sometimes. And she was grown, and she didn't have to tell him where she was all the time.

                And he shouldn't have called her a spoiled little brat. Jubilee was the last person he could call spoiled.

                And yes, he was jealous. It was completely irrational; he had decided they should remain friends, not her. So he shouldn't be jealous now. Still, a vision of Jubilee with that little rich git was enough to stir up some extremely unwelcome thoughts. Thoughts of her, and Chris, and what they had been doing all night…because Logan had smelled his unfamiliar male scent all over Jubilee when she had come in, and the smell of sex was strong on her body. And the smell had awakened the animal instincts he tried so hard to repress much of the time. _How dare that little immature puppy presume to touch what was his?_

But it wasn't presumption. She had every right to go out with, and invite to her bed, anyone she chose. He had no say in what she did or didn't do. That was probably why she had gotten mad at him, too. "I messed things up, didn't I," he said to the silent figure who had just walked into the gym.

                "Indeed," came Ororo's even voice. "I suggest that when she calms down you apologize."

                Logan stopped punching the bag and grabbed a towel from the gymnast's vaulting horse off to one side. "She's still mad at me?"

                Ororo nodded. "Logan, can you blame her? Look at things from her point of view. She came home this morning tired and intending to go to bed, and you went and yelled in her face and woke her up. The only thing she really understood was that you were upset that you had waited up all night for her. Logan, I understand it was the first time that she has stayed out all night, but surely you couldn't have been that upset about her not having come home?"

                "Jean didn't tell anyone, huh?" Ororo shook her head, and Logan sighed as he sat down on a bench. "I thought you girls told each other everything."

                "I have not spoken to her yet today," Ororo said quietly.

                Logan stared off into space as Ororo sat down beside him. "A girl down by Maynard's told me this Christian Daniels has a rep for roughing up women. He beat her up and raped her when she was doing 'entertainment' for a party some friend of his was throwing."

                Ororo considered this silently for a while. "I see. And you are worried that Jubilee will be similarly mistreated by this young man?" Logan nodded. Ororo was silent for another moment.

                "Logan, I appreciate the sentiment, and I am slightly concerned as well. But Jubilee is a grown woman, and she has faced many dangers both with us and on her own. Chris is not likely to be able to hurt her unless she allows it. And I doubt she will. Too many people have hurt her throughout her life. Of which you are one, but Jubilee realizes that although you have hurt her, you also have her best interests at heart, and she also knows that the love you offer is true, unconditional love. And having realized this, and knowing what it feels like, she will not settle for anything less from anyone she becomes involved with." Ororo let Logan digest this for a moment, then said, "Having said that, however, I suggest that you still speak to her about what you have discovered. Even if she is still too upset to forgive you for your earlier outburst, if what you said was true she will know what to look for should Chris become the violent man you have heard him accused of being."

                Logan tapped on Jubilee's open doorframe, once, politely, before walking in. Jubilee was in front of the mirror, brushing out her hair. A bag sat open on her bed, stuffed with a deep sapphire beach towel, book, sunglasses, and suntan lotion. She didn't bother turning toward him when he walked in. "Not done yelling at me yet?" she said tartly.

                Logan took a deep breath. "Jubes, I need ta talk to ya. Yer boyfriend, Chris…he ain't what you think." God, it was hard to think, seeing her wearing that turquoise string bikini top and cutoff shorts over her bikini bottom. "I talked to the new waitress at Maynard's yesterday after you and yer…boyfriend…had gone," and the word was forced past stiff lips; he didn't want to think of that puppy pawing over his Jubes. "and she tol' me she was doin' a party for some friend o' Chris's an' he took advantage o' her after she said no."

                Jubilee turned away from the mirror so fast her hair fanned out behind her. "Oh, come on, Logan, is that the best you can do?" she spat angrily. "You don't like him, so you make up something about him to make me stop going out with him?" She shook her head. "It's not going to work, Logan. Stop it." She tossed her hairbrush into the bag and zipped it up, then grabbed the handle and headed for the door. "Come on, Logan. Stop being jealous. It's not becoming."

                "I ain't jealous!" Logan protested, his temper rising again. Why couldn't she see he was being serious? "I'm just trying to…"

                "I know what you're trying to do," Jubilee said angrily. "So cut it out. It's not going to do you any good. I love Chris, and he loves me, and I'm not a little girl anymore, that you can tell me what to do!" She fished her sunglasses out of the bag. "He asked me to move in with him. His parents gave him an apartment in the city, and I was considering moving in with him. You just made up my mind for me, Logan. Thanks." She started to brush past him.

                Logan was alarmed at that piece of news. "Jubes, please. Please reconsider. Don't move out, not yet, not with him. Give it some more time, ya only been goin' out with him three months, an' it ain't 'nough time fer ya ta know ya wanna move in with him."

                "I know," Jubilee hissed, opening her drawers and taking out a handful of her underclothes, some of her clothing, and a second pair of shoes. "Believe me, I know. He's been telling me you all are too restrictive here, and urging me to move in with him for a month now. This morning was the last straw. Bye, Logan." And she left her room, slipping past him and slamming the door as she went by.

                Logan cursed as he stared at the door. What the hell was he going to do now?


	8. True Colors

Chapter 8: True Colors

Jubilee got out of her car in front of Chris's mansion and grabbed her bag, slamming the door. She met Chris, coming down the front steps, with a similar bag in his hand, and she smiled as she ran up and kissed him. "Chris! Oh, I missed you!" She gave him an enthusiastic hug. After a moment, she disengaged her arms and fell into step beside him. "I decided this morning. I'll move in with you."

Chris stopped walking. "You will? You really will? Oh, Jubilation!" he hugged her. "You've just made my day!" as they continued walking toward his car a little way down the drive, he asked her, "What made you make up your mind?"

"Oh, just stuff," she said lightly, unwilling to tell Chris about Logan. "I got yelled at this morning when I got home for being out all night," she hedged. "It's not really fair. They treat me like I'm still a kid."

Chris threw back his head and laughed, and Jubilee chuckled weakly. She didn't see what was so funny, but Chris did have a peculiar sense of humor sometimes. "I'm sorry, darling," he said finally. "I was just thinking…it's got to be destiny, because I just got this for you yesterday." He dug into his jacket pocket and produced a small black velvet box. Jubilee's heart nearly stopped when she opened it.

Inside was a huge diamond ring. It had to be at least four carats, if not more, and was set in a whitish metal that Jubilee would have bet money was platinum. "Chris," she said, awed. It had to have been horrendously expensive. She struggled to find something else to say, some way to tell him she didn't like it, and couldn't.

"Here," Chris took it out of its box and took her hand. Carelessly pulling off her middle finger the dainty sapphire-and-diamond band Logan had bought her long ago for her birthday, he put the diamond on the finger next to it. "Now it's official. We're engaged."

"Uh, no, Chris," Jubilee said, suddenly uneasy, "I think I want to wait on the engagement for a while longer." She started to pull the diamond ring from her finger, but Chris took her hands, preventing her.

"It's okay if you want to wait, but go ahead and wear the ring," he said. "A pretty girl like you should have pretty things. As nice as your friends are, they don't give you much jewelry." It was true, they didn't, but it was mostly because Jubilee didn't wear jewelry most of the time. The only piece of jewelry she wore on a daily basis was Logan's ring, and her small diamond stud earrings, a present from Ororo one Christmas.

Chris put the sapphire band into the black box and closed it, and Jubilee started to reach for it, but he tucked it into his jacket pocket carelessly. "You haven't got pockets," he said to her. "I'll keep it in my jacket for safekeeping while we're at the club pool. You never know about the pool attendants, they might riffle your bag and steal it while you're swimming." Jubilee nodded slowly. Maybe it would be safer with him; she didn't know about these fancy country clubs. She resolved to ask for it back when they got to his apartment.

Chris dropped his bag on a lounge chair in the sunlight, and then took her arm and showed her around. There was, in addition to the huge Olympic-sized pool in the back, a sauna, separate changing rooms and showers for both men and women, a weight room, and an open room with small tables and chairs where small groups of people sat and talked while they sipped drinks. It was all very posh, and expensive, and Jubilee tried to maintain an exterior of calm and cheerfulness while squirming inwardly. She wasn't comfortable with all this luxury.

She was even less comfortable with the possessive way Chris held her arm and took her around. She felt as though he were showing her off to his friends and the other people there at the club, and it made her uneasy. She felt like Chris thought she was a trophy, and she was _not_ happy with that feeling. Added to which, he hinted at the fact that they were engaged, when they weren't, and she was too polite to take the ring off in front of everyone and give it back to him.

The sun climbed higher, and relief finally came in the form of stifling heat. She excused herself from Chris's arm, collected her bag, and disappeared into the changing room. When she came out she was wearing her bikini and _not_ wearing the ring. It was a little too big for her finger anyway, and she was afraid it would slip off her finger and she would lose it in the pool. She dropped her bag beside the chair next to Chris's, spread her towel out over the chair, and then dove gracefully into the pool.

She did a few laps around the pool, just as she did at home in Charles's pool, then hauled herself out and went over to the diving board. Chris was standing there already, and as she walked up he took her arm and said, "Where's the ring?"

"I left it with my stuff," she said. "Don't worry, I hid it in the bottom of my bag. No one's going to take it."

"It's not that," he said quietly through clenched teeth. "I bought it for you, that means I want you to wear it. I _expect_ to see you wear it. Go and get it."

"It's too large," Jubilee protested. "I don't want to lose it in the pool if it slips off."

"If you lose it I'll replace it. I want to see it on you. Go put it on." He just barely softened his demand with a 'please.' Slightly upset but unwilling to make a scene in front of all these people, Jubilee went, retrieved the ring, and slid it on. It felt heavy and awkward on her finger, and she found herself twisting it nervously as she dove back in. She swam with one fist clenched, trying to make sure it wouldn't fall off. It was almost a relief when Chris finally came to collect her at the end of another hour and they got into his car to go to his apartment.

It was in a very posh uptown complex, and Jubilee dropped her bag on the floor beside the door and looked around as she walked in. Chris had said he had some painting done to it, but she couldn't see a difference from the last time she was here. Chris locked the door and dropped his bag beside the couch. "Put your bag beside mine," he snapped at her. "Don't leave it by the door. I don't like things around the doors."

Jubilee blinked. His sudden change in attitude was startling. "Chris?" she asked, walking over to where he has sat down in a chair and was taking off his shoes. "Chris, what's wrong?"

"Take off your shoes while in here, remember?" he snapped. "I don't want the carpet stained." Stung, Jubilee stepped on the heels of her shoes, pulling her feet out of them, then walked back to him. "Chris, what's wrong with you? Why the bad mood all of a sudden?"

"There is nothing wrong with me. There is, however, something wrong with _you_." He emphasized the 'you'.

Stunned, Jubilee took a step back. "Me? What did I do?"

Chris got up and paced angrily into his dining room, where he opened a cabinet and took out a tall glass bottle of whiskey. He poured himself a full glass, tossed it down, poured another one and polished that one off as quickly as he had the first, then poured himself a third and sipped it as he looked at her. Jubilee walked over, taking the glass from his hand and putting it down on the dining room table. "Chris, please, I don't understand what you mean. What did I do to make you mad?" She winced inwardly at the defensive tone of her voice.

Chris pushed her hands aside and picked up his glass again, refilling it from the bottle. "You refused to wear my ring. I got that especially for you, do you know that? It cost me nearly three thousand dollars. If I spend that kind of money on you I expect to see you wear it. I didn't notice you'd taken it off until one of my friends pointed out to me that _my_ girl wasn't wearing the ring. He asked me if you were available. Do you know how humiliating that is?" His voice rose a notch. "It's humiliating, to have _my_ friend ask about _my_ fiancée. I want everyone who looks at you to know you're mine, and that you belong to me. I don't want to see you with anyone else."

Jubilee's eyes narrowed. "I have _not_ promised to marry you yet, Chris, I only said I would move in. That's not called 'being engaged'. I want to think about it. And if I chose not to wear something, that's my choice, not yours. You don't make decisions for me. I don't belong to you. I am not some piece of property you can haul around to make you look good, and then put up on a shelf when it's not convenient for you. And for your information, I know exactly how much you spent on that ring. I also know you bought everyone in your golfing circle Rolex watches. _Five thousand dollar_ Rolex watches. The three thousand you supposedly spent on my ring is just chunk change to you." Jubilee turned away from him and went to where she'd left her shoes, sitting down on a low ottoman as she started to put them on. "You know something, I've changed my mind, Chris. I don't think I'll move in with you just yet." She slipped on her sneaker and started to tie it up.

The hand that came flying in from off to her left caught her completely by surprise. She gasped in shock as it connected with her left cheek with enough force to sweep her off the ottoman and send her sprawling to the floor. She blinked away the tears that filled her eyes at the unexpected pain and looked up.

Chris stood over her, fuming. "You don't get to change your mind, Jubilation," he said, his voice icy. "I've already told my parents you were moving in, and that we would be getting married. If you leave now it's going to make me look like a fool. And I refuse to look like a fool. Take off your shoe. You're staying."

"Absolutely not!" Jubilee spat out, getting up and fetching her other shoe. "In fact, I don't think I want to see you anymore. I thought you loved me, but all you really love is yourself. Grow up, Chris. Logan was right, you're a selfish egocentric person. I don't know what I saw in you." She slid her foot into her other sneaker and stood up, walking…

Straight into a stiff left hook.

She blinked the stars out of her eyes as she stared at the ceiling. Her right eye felt like it was about to explode, and the involuntary tears that filled her eyes were a testimony to that pain. She knew she'd have a black eye later, and oh, what would Wolvie say?

_I should have listened to you, Logan,_ she thought grimly as she dazedly tried to get up. _I promise I'll apologize when I get home._

She didn't even get fully upright before a shoe came up and connected with her face, sending her back down to the carpet as a red haze filled her vision. It took a few more seconds for her to clear the stars from her head this time, and when she did, she realized the red haze was blood from her bleeding nose. She felt it gingerly, wondering if it was broken, and rolled over onto her stomach, crawling to her hands and knees. She was almost upright again when an impact with her side knocked the wind out of her and sent her to the floor again.

Chris waited for her to rise again, and kicked her on the other side. She went down again. "Stupid girl," he spat, draining his glass of whiskey. "Get it through your head, you're not going anywhere!"

"I'm leaving, Chris," Jubilee said grimly, getting to her feet again. "Logan was right. Whether I chose to say or not, it's my choice, not yours." She wasn't moving steadily, due to the blows to her head and the swelling eye, and so it was easy for Chris to knock her down again. She stayed down this time, sobbing from the kick to her stomach as she curled over and choked, and he took the opportunity to go back for his sixth glass of whiskey.

Jubilee saw her chance. Lurching upright, she headed for the door as fast as she could. Her hands fumbled with the locks, trying to get them open. She had the first one open when he grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked. She went down, her forehead striking the door, and she reeled dizzily for a moment. He grabbed her ankle and yanked at it, trying to twist her shoe off.

Jubilee cried out as he twisted her ankle viciously. The anguish snapped her out of her pain-induced daze, and she pulled back on her ankle, getting her foot out of the shoe. A he stared at it stupidly, his brain slowed down by the whiskey he'd just consumed and all the champagne at the country club, she fumbled for the second lock. When her fingers couldn't get it open, she raised her hand and paffed the lock, then shoved the door open.

Seconds later she was running down the hallway toward the elevator, reaching it just as Chris came charging after her. She pressed the button for the elevator, but he was coming too fast, and the elevator wasn't coming fast enough…panicking, she lunged for the stairs and escaped into the stairwell.

Her uneven footfalls thumped on the metal steps. Home. She had to get home. At least out of here. She took the steps two at a time, stopping to rest only when the breathless stitch in her side was too intense to continue, and running on when she got breath back. Ninth floor, eighth floor, seventh floor, and on down until she pushed open the door at the foot of the stairwell and came out on the ground floor. Directly ahead of her she could see the pavement outside, gray in the gathering twilight, and she made for it as fast as she could. She heard Chris come out of the elevator beside the stairs, and he shouted and grabbed a handful of her shirt. Desperate to get away, she brought up her hands and 'paff'ed him, feeling his hand rip part of her shirt away as he did so, and then she was past him, running out onto the sidewalk. She turned a corner, blindly, and ran until she was sure that he wasn't following her. At which point she collapsed, unable to run anymore, in a doorway.

She hid there for a long time, shaking, afraid that Chris was going to come looking for her, but he never did. Finally she got to her feet and started wearily down the sidewalk, looking at the street signs through her one good eye until she found a familiar one that would take her home to the mansion. The streets were dark, and what few passersby there were stared at her incredulously, then moved aside to let her pass before hurrying away. No one stopped to offer her help, and Jubilee stumbled on in a daze of misery.

She didn't think things could get any worse, but as she found Graymalkin Lane and started to walk up it, the skies opened up and began to pour rain down on her. Jubilee moaned in misery as she continued walking until finally her tired feet stopped in front of the mansion's boundary walls. She wearily punched her code in the keypad, slipped between the gates, and dragged herself up to the front door. She pressed the doorbell, waited for it to open, and sighed when it didn't. She belatedly remembered that it was broken, and Charles had it disconnected until Scott got around to fixing it. Apparently Scott hadn't gotten around to doing so yet.

She leaned against the door for a moment, feeling the rain streak through the dried blood on her face. She raised a fist and pounded on the door weakly. "Open up, please open up," she cried, but a sudden clap of thunder drowned out her words and carried them away in the wind. She closed her eyes tiredly, her legs giving out under her and spilling her onto the doorstep.


	9. I'll Be Here

Chapter 9: I'll Be Here

Logan groaned as the sky opened up and started pouring rain. Perfect. He was hoping to go out and find a good brawl to get into to ease the tension he'd felt all day, and now it was going to rain. He shrugged as he got off his bike and took off his helmet. Okay, bar brawl out. He grinned maliciously as he left the garage. Remy and Rogue were going to have to ride home in the rain; Scott and Jean's romantic dinner at the Kiss Caf's outdoor dining area was going to need to be moved indoors; Ororo…well, she was probably going to be hanging with her friends, and even Bobby and Hank had gone down to Harry's for the evening. He, thanks to the rain, was going to be stuck in the mansion alone. Chuck was out of town for some conference or another.

He wondered where Jubilee was now. It was Friday night; usually he and Jubes hung out on Friday nights. He'd come to think of it as 'their' night; until she started going out with this new boy. He missed her. He wondered what she was doing right now. Probably curled up with that 'boy' in his apartment. The thought made him grind his teeth.

The wind shifted, and a sudden whiff of scent made him pause. He stopped, took a deeper sniff of the moisture-laden air, and frowned. He could have sworn he caught Jubes's scent at the front door of the mansion. But what was she doing here?

He rounded the corner of the mansion at a run, and stopped short, stunned. Jubilee had fallen to her knees on the front doorstep. Rain soaked her clothing, she was missing one shoe, and her hair hung in lank, wet tangles around her face as she sobbed into her hands. Logan could also smell blood from where he stood, and that scent made him break into a run toward her.

His footstep crunched on the gravel, and she raised her head slowly. "Logan," she whispered, a soft sob following his name. "Help me…" He froze in shock for a moment, then ran to her side. Picking her up easily, he carried her around the side of the mansion to the kitchen door.

He put her down in a kitchen chair and turned the light on, then slid a hand under her chin. One of her pretty blue eyes was swollen shut, and both cheeks were discolored by bruises. Blood and tears streaked her face, which he dabbed at with a damp paper towel. Her nose was still bleeding sluggishly, and he felt the bridge of her nose gently for breaks before applying pressure to stop the bleeding.

"Logan, I'm--" she started to say, but he hushed her with a finger placed gently over her lips. She fell silent, and didn't say another word until he was done tending to her face. He didn't say anything until he was standing at the freezer, collecting ice from the dispenser into a plastic bag and wrapping a towel around it. He came back to the table, handed her the bag quietly, which she placed over her swollen eye, and then sat down opposite him as he took her hand. "Jubes, what happened?"

"Chris…" Jubilee choked back a sob. "Logan, he was what you told me he was. We went to the country club, and he gave me a ring…look…" She held out a hand, and Logan stared at the diamond on it. "I told him I didn't want to get engaged yet, but he said I could wear it anyway…" and she went on to tell him about the club, the events at the apartment, and finally about her escape. Logan sat quietly through it all, holding her hand as she talked and finally took her in his arms as she sobbed. She put the ice down on the table, leaned forward and rested her head on his shoulder, and started to cry. "I'm so sorry I didn't listen to you, Logan, I'm so sorry, please don't be mad at me…"

"Ssh," he said, patting her back gently as she sobbed. "It's okay, Jubes, I ain't mad at ya, I'm mad at the stupid son of a--"

She yelped suddenly, and he froze. Pulling up the end of her ripped shirt, he flinched as he saw the huge black bruise on her lower ribs. "Jubes…" Without waiting for her permission, he pulled her shirt off completely until she was sitting in front of him in her wet shorts and bra. He stared at the bruises on her ribs and chest, traced the large one that covered her upper left chest and disappeared into her bra where Chris had kicked her; and sucked in a breath. "That boy's gonna have a meetin' with my claws," he snapped when he recovered from his shock. "Come on. Let's get you up to bed." He hauled one of her arms across the back of his neck, and lifted her out of the chair. They made their way up the stairs to her room.

She sat limply down on her bed, too drained to move. Logan hunted through her drawers until he found her favorite pajamas, then stripped off her wet shorts and underclothing, and helped her get dressed. So intent was he on getting her settled, he completely ignored her nudity. He went to the bathroom for some ointment for the raw scrape on her forehead where she had collided with the door, and a bandage. By the time he got back from the bathroom, she was almost asleep on her feet. He lowered her gently into bed, tucked her in, and then cleaned, medicated, and bandaged the scrape on her forehead. By the time he finished, she was asleep.

He stood looking at her for a while before closing the door quietly. He went to the bathroom, replaced the supplies he'd used, then went to his room, stretched out on his bed, and lay staring at the ceiling for a long time, trying to come up with a suitably painful way of disposing of the insolent puppy who'd hurt his Jubes.

He was just drifting off to sleep when his room door creaked open, and he saw Jubilee in her pajamas standing in the doorway. She was shaking slightly, and he could smell her tears from where he lay. She hesitated, as if unwilling to bother him, but he scooted back on his bed and picked up a corner of the blankets in invitation. She slipped between the sheets and snuggled up against him, spoon-fashion, and he tucked the covers around her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders as she cried. He held her like that, not saying a word, just offering her comfort, until she went to sleep.

When he woke the next morning she was still tucked against his side, but the lines on her face had smoothed out a bit. He stroked her hair back from her bruised face, studied the black eye. It looked bad, but it would fade away in a couple of days. He planted a kiss on her forehead, relieved that at least the bastard hadn't raped her, and slipped deftly out of bed, grabbing a discarded pillow from the floor to tuck against her. She hugged the pillow close to her body and settled back into deep sleep. And he was careful not to wake her as he slid the ugly diamond from her hand and dropped it into his pocket before he left the room.

Chris emerged from the elevator and walked out to his car, parked a little way from the entrance to the parking garage. He was almost there when he saw that someone had slashed it up.

"What the _hell?!_" he snarled as he saw the three parallel slashes up and down the side of his Mercedes. Whatever had done the damage had cut straight through the aluminum of the door panels and peeled the metal back, exposing the steel body frame of the car. "Who the hell ruined my car?!" He ran his hand over the slashes, jerking his hand back as the jagged metal cut his hand, and cursed. He yanked out his cell phone, flipped it open, put it to his ear…and then froze as a sharp adamantium claw pierced the middle of the phone and gently dimpled the skin just under his ear.

"Don't even think 'bout it, pal," came a rough, gravelly voice from behind him.

"Look," Chris said nervously. "I got money, you can have all of it, and hey, here's the gold Rolex I just bought. It's brand new, I just got it. Just don't hurt me, please--" And he shut up as the claw dimpled his skin inward, and a drop of blood ran down his neck.

"Give me one good reason why I oughtta listen to ya," he heard that gravelly voice say again. "Ya didn't listen to Jubilee when she told ya she wanted ta go home." The claw dug a little deeper into his neck, and he gave an involuntary whimper of fear. "Oh, ya want me ta leave ya alone, eh? Well, I'll make a deal with ya. We're gonna go upstairs an' yer gonna give me every scrap of anything that belongs to her that you might have. Then you're gonna promise ta forget she even exists. Once we're done that, I'll let ya have yer miserable little life! How's that fer a deal?"

"O-okay. Anything you want. Just don't hurt me, okay?" Logan snorted a little inwardly. Coward. He could beat up women, but he couldn't face a man his own size.

They went back into the elevator, and went up to Chris's apartment in silence. Chris opened the door, and Logan pushed him in on the point of his claw, then stopped. Jubilee's bag was right beside a large stain of blood on the carpet that must have come from her bleeding nose the day before. Seeing the blood made his anger rise to the surface again, but he controlled it with difficulty as he bent over, checked the bag to ensure all of Jubilee's things were in it, then prodded Chris again. "Where's her ring?" he asked.

"What?"

Logan slid his claw another millimeter into the skin of the boy's neck. "She was wearin' a sapphire band I gave her fer her twentieth birthday. Ya took it off her when ya forced her ta wear that ugly rock ya bought fer her. Which, by the way, is right here." He threw the rock at Chris. "She don't want it, an' she don't want you. Gimme her ring back, an' we'll be even."

Chris dug a black velvet jewelry box out of his coat pocket. "I was gonna go sell it," he whined. "She ought to pay me fer the damage she did to my carpet."

Logan slid his claw into Chris's neck another millimeter. "What about the damage ya done her?" he demanded. "What 'bout that? What 'bout her black eye? Her bruised rib? The scrape on her forehead? Ya thought 'bout that?" He snorted as Chris froze again. "I guess ya didn't." He slipped the ring into the bag, zipped it up, and took his claw out of Chris's neck. Blood flowed, but not as much as Logan would have liked. He snarled. "Don't call. Don't try ta see her. Forget 'bout her. Got me?" He stepped closer, until his face was right in Chris's own. "Ya better thank God that she got outta here 'fore ya forced yerself on her. If ya had, you'd be bleedin' yer pathetic little life out on the floor right now."

Without waiting for an answer, he turned and left.

Jubilee was still in bed when he got home. Her ribs were badly bruised, Hank had said when he examined her that morning, and he'd told Jubilee to stay in bed and take it easy for a while. Jean and Ororo had been indignant, and wanted Jubilee to press charges, but Jubilee shook her head. She just wanted to forget the whole thing.

She looked up with a watery-eyed smile as Logan came into her room with her bag. "Was everything there?" she asked as he sat on the bed in front of her and unzipped the bag.

"Got all yer stuff," he said, nodding, "Including this." He opened the little black velvet box and showed her the sapphire ring.

Tears spilled down her cheeks as she took it. "Oh, Logan." She slipped it onto her middle finger, where she'd always worn it, and looked at it there for a moment before leaning forward to hug him. "Thank you, Logan…oh, thank you, I'm so sorry, Logan, I love you…"

He hugged her back, his heart aching. "I love ya too, Jubes. Remember, no matter how bad it gets, or how mad I seem, I'll be here fer ya. I'll always be here."

"Thanks, Logan," Jubilee said softly, hugging him. They sat there like that for a while, until they were interrupted by a softly-cleared throat in the doorway.

Remy stood there, looking a little uncertain but smiling gamely. "Whatcha want, Cajun?" Logan growled, but there was no ire in his voice.

"De p'tite not feeling so good, Remy t'ought maybe he bring flowers to cheer her up," he said, walking into the room and producing a bouquet of sweetly-scented roses from behind his back. Jubilee smiled, grabbed the roses Chris had given her from the vase on her bedside table, and dropped Remy's roses in it. "There. That's a lot better."

"Maybe when de p'tite feelin' better she let Remy take her out on a date?" Remy looked hopeful.

Jubilee smiled weakly. "No, I don't think so, Remy. I think I'll swear off men for a while; I don't seem to be having much luck." She sighed.

Remy smiled gently. "S'okay. Remy understan'. But I hope you still feelin' up to dat wet t-shirt contest over at Dotson's?"

Jubilee threw back her head and laughed.


	10. Another Try

Chapter 10: Another Try

A different song started, one with a definite beat to it that Logan recognized as one of Jubilee's favorite song. The announcer behind the mike turned to the audience. "And now that you've seen the competition, gentlemen, here's the reigning champion of the Dotson's Pit Barbecue wet t-shirt contest, Miiiiss Jubilee!"

Jubilee peeked out shyly from between the folds of the heavy red curtain, then smiled coyly and slipped one lean leg out from between the curtain. She was wearing daisy dukes, and the amount of leg that showed was impressive. Then she grabbed the curtains and whipped them open, prancing out onto the stage wearing one of the Dotson's t-shirts that all the girls entering the contest wore. Logan blinked. Remy stared.

There was a _lot_ less of that shirt on Jubilee than there had been on the girl who had just walked across the stage. While she was waiting behind the makeshift stage, Jubilee had taken a pair of scissors to the lower portion of the shirt, just below her ribcage. She had, in effect, turned the t-shirt into a crop top. And there was a _lot_ of tanned skin showing under it.

The guys whooped, hollered, and cheered, but Logan was puzzled. It was supposed to be a wet t-shirt contest; so why wasn't the shirt wet?

Jubilee pranced on her stiletto heels down the stage and stopped in front of a stool with a bucket of water beside it. She sat down on the stool with her knees pressed demurely together, and made a show of crossing and uncrossing her ankles several times, showing off those tight denim shorts; then she grinned, leaned so far over that the men watching and hollering could see a great deal of her cleavage, and picked up the bucket. Hefting it, she slowly began to pour the water it held over her head, soaking her hair, shoulders, shirt, and shorts. The whistles, stamps, and screaming increased in volume, until the bucket ran out of water. As it slowed to a trickle, Jubilee slowly stuck out her tongue, caught the last few drops of water on it, and licked her lips with that wet, glistening pink tongue.

Remy grinned and sat back as Logan looked at the men standing all around them, clapping and screaming and stamping. Wolf whistles came from all the men around them, and Logan's eyes started to bulge a little as guys crowded up to the end of the stage and started tossing little paper airplanes made of dollar bills at her. Jubilee stood there, smiling and flushed, gathering up the money that had fallen to the stage. This just sent the men into further frenzies of whistling and cheering as she bent over, molding the wet shorts to her bottom. Remy watched as she unfolded the bills delicately, smoothing them out, and he also noticed that not all of them were ones. She jumped off the stage, pressed the fistful of dollars into Logan's hand with a wide grin, kissed him quickly on the cheek and got back up on the stage.

"And now, to determine our winner. Let's hear a show of applause for your pick. Our first contestant, Miss Cindy!" There was a smattering of applause, but not much. Logan couldn't blame them. Cindy looked like a horse. Nice tits, but the face would throw any man off his stroke. "Our second contestant, Miss April!" April was a red-head with freckles. She was moderately prettier, but still couldn't hold a candle to Jubilee. Apparently Logan wasn't the only one who thought so. "Miss Gretchen!"

This girl looked a bit like Jean. Big, eye-popping bust, full, pursed red lips, thick wavy red hair. Logan clapped and whistled for her, and Remy shot him a dirty look. "Whose side you on?"

"Hey, can't help it if Jubes ain't really my type," Logan said, but sat down.

Jubilee got the most applause of all, but since an equal number of people had expressed approval of 'Gretchen', there was a short pause while the owner of the bar and the man behind the mike argued. "We have a two-way tie," the man behind the mike finally said. "Between Gretchen and our reigning champion, Miss Jubilee! Therefore, we are going to have a tiebreaker event. Our girls will do a dance for you; and whichever one wins your approval, she'll be crowned the winner of our contest! Ladies, are you ready?"

Gretchen won the coin toss and went first. She pranced up and down the stage, wiggled her ass and cupped her tits and shook them a little, making them jiggle. Logan whooped and hollered. Remy glowered at him.

Then Jubilee came out…and Logan almost gasped in shock. Jubilee had cut the shirt open from neck to ribs, using two little tails to tie the front of the shirt together just under her ribs. Her tan satin bra peeked out from between the front pieces of the shirt.

She did a slinky little cat walk down the front of the stage, and when she reached the puddle of water left from her earlier performance, she went to her knees and crawled into the puddle, staring directly at Remy. She licked her lips in an inviting gesture, then reached up behind her. He wasn't sure how she did it, but she shimmied out of the bra with a gentle wriggle, and he reached out blindly as the bra came sailing toward him, and snatched it out of the air. Jubilee grinned at him as she lay face down on the stage, pressed the front of her t-shirt into the water puddle, then looked back up. Now there were two dark regions just under the shirt where her nipples would be. She stared straight at the two men, pursed her lips, and blew a kiss at them. As Logan stared, the spectators exploded. She won the contest, of course; it was unanimous. Gretchen couldn't compete with her after _that_ performance.

She retrieved her bra from Remy, replaced the ruined wet t-shirt with a dry one, and climbed into Remy's pickup, counting the money as Logan helped Gretchen into his jeep. She grinned, gave him a thumbs-up sign, and sat back as Remy drove out of the parking lot. "What did you think?" she grinned at him, sounding satisfied with herself. "Won another year's free first drinks for me, and a free dinner of ribs the next time we go." Remy didn't say a word, but continued driving.

Jubilee leaned forward. "Remy? Remy, are you okay? You're not mad at me, are you?"

Remy found a quiet stretch of road and pulled over to the shoulder. Turning off the engine, he leaned over the seat and fastened his lips on hers in a hungry kiss. She was startled for a moment, then responded in kind. Finally he sat back. "Been wantin' to do dat since I saw you up dere," he said. "Jubes…I like de display. But next time, do Remy a favor and keep your bra on, huh?"

Jubilee laughed. "Jealous?"

"_Oui_," Remy surprised himself by admitting it. "_Oui_, I was, seein' all dose ot'er men standing dere whooping an' hollering make me awfully jealous. Made me realize you could have any guy you want out there. Don' like dat t'ought." He started the jeep again. "What you say we give you an' me another try?"

Jubilee's enthusiastic kiss was answer enough.

Hope you all enjoyed that one!

I'm pretty busy working on the Jubes/Logan A/U fic right now (it's up to 30 chapters so far, and getting longer!) so there might be a little bit of time without posts. Maybe….actually, maybe I'll toss up the Ororo/OC fic I wrote a couple of months ago called 'Presents'. Yeah.

Okay. Next story up, 'Presents'. Ororo befriends a lonely little girl living in the house next door to the mansion, the daughter of Charles's old school friend.

Hope to see you all there for the new story!

Jaenelle Angelline


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